Better Together
by tinyhuman02
Summary: AU: Sometimes opposites attract, but it can take time for a spark to ignite. Jackson wants to blend in without his famous last name being the center of attention. April just wants to be noticed. Takes place during their intern year at Mercy West.
1. Nice To Meet You

**Here's the Mercy West fic some of you guys have been waiting for! I did take a few excerpts from my B&H chapter because I didn't feel like rewriting some stuff lol, but there are some things in this first chapter that are different. Since it'll be multichapter the pacing will obviously be slower with more time for build up.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's or its characters ;)**

* * *

_Take a deep breath. Everything will be alright._

April Kepner had been telling herself that phrase since she woke up in her bed. Her first day as a surgical intern was finally here. She was a small town girl. Grew up on a farm, used her brains to earn herself a free ride through college and medical school. Becoming a doctor felt almost surreal. She had never been one to stand out in the crowd. Her three sisters didn't have trouble becoming popular. They always stood out to people easily, but that wasn't the case for her. After she graduated from medical school, the miniscule town of Moline noticed. Her father bragged to every person he knew that his second daughter was a doctor. It was like she was a celebrity… for a month.

Despite being an overachiever, she always felt invisible. And she felt even more invisible after moving to Seattle. No friends or family in the area. She didn't know a single soul. It was her first time living outside of Ohio. She had attended the University of Akron, which was only two hours away from Moline. The choice to move across the country was difficult, but she wanted to branch out and make a name for herself in a new environment.

But making friends wasn't one of her strongest assets. Her social skills with her professors were fine. In fact, she could talk for hours with them about medicine. When it came to speaking to her peers she lost her voice. She constantly worried about people judging her or not accepting her that it made her socially awkward. And she didn't have much of a filter, often saying things without thinking about them first. It also typically took a while for people to warm up to her perkiness.

She stood alone in the fourth floor lobby of the surgical wing. Her resident for the year asked her group to meet with her at exactly 9 AM. April arrived ten minutes early. The day before, she mapped out the entire surgical wing in her red notebook, which she always carried around with her. She didn't want to get lost on her first day. Bad first impression. Getting on her resident's good side was a must.

And the overachiever in her did research on her resident ahead of time. Her name was Valerie Swanson, a third year resident, but treated like a fifth year. Already published six articles, including one during her intern year. Graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. She was a driven surgeon, planning to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery. Driven, but a good teacher, according to reviews she managed to find on the Internet. Cardio wasn't April's interest. She wanted to become a neurosurgeon, but she was looking forward to learning from Swanson anyway.

Checking her watch again, it was nine o'clock, but nobody in her group had arrived and neither did Dr. Swanson. Was she at the wrong meeting place? She frantically opened her red notebook, double checking her notes to ensure she was waiting in the correct lobby.

"Ah, one guppy is here, but where are the other four?" the voice of Swanson greeted her, hands on her hips. She had her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. About the same height as April. "Where are my other guppies?"

"I-I… I don't know. I haven't met them yet, I think," April nervously responded. She cleared her throat, put on her brightest smile and held out her hand. "Dr. April Kepner. I'm very excited to me you, Dr. Swanson. I've heard so much about your work."

Swanson firmly shook April's hand and smiled. "Nice meeting you, Dr. Kepner. Thank you for arriving on time. Shows you're a dedicated worker," she complimented. "Where did you graduate from?"

"University of Akron. Well, for the program I was accepted in, I completed my bachelor's on the Akron campus in two years, then I received my medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University in four. It's a very exclusive program and I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have gotten in," she proudly stated with a grin on her face.

"Yes, I've heard of NEOMED. I graduated from an Ivy League school-"

"Columbia University," April chirped. She sheepishly smiled, biting down on her lower lip. "I'm sorry. I… I wanted to get to know you better and did some research about your background."

Swanson waved her hand and laughed. "No, it's alright. I like interns who care about who they're working with. Trust me, I've had my share of duds since I started working here. Anyway, as I was saying, I find NEOMED just as impressive as an Ivy League. Only 35 admitted into that accelerated program a year, right?"

"Yes. I'm from a very small farm town. An academic scholarship is what helped me attend Akron and NEOMED in the first place," she continued. "I wanted to go to Harvard, but I couldn't afford it."

"Harvard Schmarvard," the resident scoffed, smirking at April. "They may be at the top of the list of medical schools, but I always believed in choosing my own destiny. Everyone wants to go to Harvard. So, I chose Columbia and I must say, I had a very enjoyable learning experience there. I bet you can say the same for Akron. Besides, the school you attend isn't what makes you a good surgeon. You become a good surgeon with hard work and learning on the job."

April took a quick break from writing notes in her red notebook, pointing her pen at Swanson. "I wholeheartedly agree."

"Where the hell are my other interns?" she impatiently asked herself as she checked her watch. "Tardiness is one of my pet peeves. Keep this in mind, Kepner. I'm willing to teach you guys in a polite and stress free matter, but when you're late or slacking off I won't hesitate to unleash the hard ass side of me."

"Polite, but a hard ass. Got it," the brunette intern noted, also keeping that in mind in her red notebook.

Swanson amusingly watched April jot down notes at a fast pace. "You know, you don't need to write down _everything_ I say. The medical information is more important."

"Oh, but I just want to have little reminders about certain things. I feel more comfortable doing this because it allows me to track back if I forget something. I mean, I also keep mental notes in my head, but my notebook can definitely hold information better than I can-"

"You're rambling," she interrupted her before she turned around on her heel and gestured her hand to follow her. "Alright, now that I've met you, Dr. Kepner, let's go find my other guppies."

* * *

"We're in the wrong lobby, Charlie! I told you it was the fourth floor!" Reed Adamson scolded her fellow intern, slapping his shoulder hard. "This is why you need to listen to me more."

Standing nearby was Jackson Avery. As the grandson of a very well-known cardiothoracic surgeon, he absolutely hated the fact that he was late on his first day – and on a 48-hour shift. He thought maybe he should have listened to his mother and stayed home in Boston because his newborn career as a surgeon was already beginning on a bad note.

The Avery's were a household name in the surgical world. His grandfather, Harper Avery, had an award named after him. All of his immediate family members followed his path into surgery. His parents met at Harvard Medical School. His two older sisters, as well as himself, attended Harvard for their undergraduate studies and medical school. Samantha and Joslyn Avery were currently residents at Massachusetts General Hospital – Mass Gen for short. Catherine Avery was an attending urologist at The Brigham. Harper Avery Jr. was… no longer a surgeon. Burned out. Gave up his career and left Boston when Jackson was in high school. He wasn't sure what happened to him.

And he was supposed to follow his family's footsteps and join the Mass Gen tradition. His grandfather had been reserving a place for him since he started medical school. Nobody in his family actually pushed him to become a doctor like his sisters. He was the pretty boy. They didn't believe he had what it took to become great like them.

So he pushed himself. He aced his MCATs and never told his family about sitting down for them until after the fact. Once they realized he was serious about becoming a surgeon, that was when the pressure started to pile on. He thought the pressure wouldn't be as suffocating if he chose a different route. He wanted to build his own legacy without his grandfather and his mother doing it for him. Mercy West was far, very far from Mass Gen and Boston. It was perfect.

But he wanted to be a leader and so far, he was a lousy follower. He and the other three interns with him were late to meet Swanson. And as soon as she knew who he was, he was going to get a ton of crap for it. The Avery name was already slowly spreading around the hospital. Yes, an Avery at Mercy West was a big deal because Mass Gen was their royal castle.

"All of the lobbies look the same!" Charles Percy argued. "I bet she got lost too."

"You are an idiot," Reed bluntly said, shaking her head disappointedly. "After four years of knowing you, you're still pretty dense. I don't understand how you made it through medical school."

From the vague information Jackson learned from his peers, Charles and Reed attended medical school together at the University of Washington. He was slightly taller than him with thick black hair. She appeared petite beside him, her long brown hair swaying around every time she yelled at him. Sort of had an attitude. Charles hailed from Houston and Reed was from San Diego. That was all he knew about them.

Then there was another male intern with them who quietly observed the two friends' banter. His name was Trevor Stanley. He had short, spiky brown hair and a smile that could give Jackson some competition with the ladies. Originally from Salt Lake City. He received his medical degree from UCLA. Seemed like a nice person, although he appeared to be checking out Jackson every once in a while. Obviously feeling threatened by the presence of an Avery, he thought.

Arguing over which lobby they were supposed to meet their resident in, Jackson waved his arms to shut up Charles and Reed. "Whoa, whoa! Okay, let's stop and calm down. We're already late, so how about we just go upstairs to the fourth floor and see if Dr. Swanson's there?" he suggested.

Charles pointed at Jackson and grinned at Reed. "You see? Leave it to an Avery to make sense."

"And that's probably the 45th time since I met you an hour ago that you've made a reference to my family name," he irritably said, adding an eye roll. "Seriously, just stop with the Avery crap. I want to lay low for at least a day."

"Not gonna happen, Avery," Charles replied and chuckled. He and the others followed Jackson to the closest elevator. "It's not often an Avery passes up Mass Gen for another hospital. Actually, has it ever happened?"

"Not to my knowledge, no," he muttered. He had a feeling this Percy dude would drive him nuts all year. "Just… keep your mouth shut about my last name for the rest of the day. I'd like to blend in with everyone for a change."

* * *

"You four are late," Swanson sternly greeted the four tardy interns in the hallway, tightening her blonde ponytail. "Unacceptable. Where were you four when Dr. Kepner met me in the lobby?"

"Well, you see… we thought you meant the main lobby on the ground floor," Charles insisted, flashing a grin at Swanson, who stared back at him unamused. "Did I forget to mention I attended your lectures at U-Dub?"

The resident rolled her eyes and pushed her way past the foursome. "Follow me, guppies. By the way, you four will be on scut during your first 48-hour shift. Because Dr. Kepner was on time, she has the special privilege of scrubbing in with me when I assist Dr. Martin on his heart valve replacement procedure."

April raised both of her eyebrows as she smiled again. "Wow. Thank you, Dr. Swanson. I promise you won't regret your decision," she excitedly said before she jotted down notes in her notebook.

Reed rolled her eyes and smirked at Charles. "We got a pet. Fabulous."

Jackson overheard her comment and glanced over at April. Maybe she was a pet, maybe she wasn't. How could anyone come to that conclusion after a 30-second encounter? She appeared average, not exactly a bombshell. After closing her red notebook, she made eye contact with him. He slightly smiled, informally greeting her. She shyly smiled back before she followed Swanson down the hallway. It signaled the rest of them to do the same thing.

"Welcome to your first day as surgical interns at Mercy West. Here at Mercy West, we take pride in educating and transforming you all into successful surgeons. Right now, you are infants. When you complete your residency you will either stay at or leave this hospital as board certified adults," Swanson explained. "While we have our occasional share of flunkies just like any other teaching hospital, as educators, we want to help you reach your full potential and more. Nobody gets left behind unless you choose to drop out of our program, but trust me. This is one of the best teaching hospitals in the state and perhaps, the entire country. Disregard what they say about Seattle Grace. Mercy West is the place to be."

April raised her hand. "Umm, excuse me, but I heard one intern will be chosen to scrub in for their first ever solo. When will that happen?"

"When the first angry appendix arrives at our hospital," she quipped. "Unfortunately, I don't make that selection. One of the attendings will, so be alert and prepared. If you're chosen, make sure you don't botch the surgery. You'll never live it down if you do."

"So, uhh… when will we have time to sleep in these next 48 hours?" Charles asked curiously.

Swanson stopped in her tracks, spinning around as the five interns collided into each other. "You've been on my service for less than a minute and you're already ask me when you'll get to sleep?" she asked appalled. "You five are interns. Sleep is what _I _get to do while I'm babysitting your little guppy asses. Get all of your work done early, then you can sleep, but trust me – that won't be happening. Anybody else have irrelevant questions to ask me?"

The fivesome remained silent. Pissing off their resident on their first day wasn't the best way to go.

"Okay, let's continue on then."

Reed slapped Charles' chest with the back of her hand with a scowl on her face. "Thanks to you, we probably just got crapped on with even more scut," she harshly whispered.

April looked over her shoulder as they walked a foot away from Swanson. "She's really nice when you're not slacking," she pointed out.

"Oh, joy! Good to know," Reed sarcastically replied with a fake smile. "And you are?"

"April Kepner, nice to meet you," she introduced herself, extending her hand out to Reed. Her fellow intern simply gazed down at her hand. She nervously laughed and lowered her hand. "I get it. First day jitters, but isn't it exhilarating? We're going to be surgeons. Like, somebody pinch me. Oww!"

Charles chuckled after he reached out and pinched April's ass. "Want me to do it again?"

"Knock it off. You already made us look incompetent in front of Swanson," Jackson scolded him.

"The slower you five walk, the more time I'm wasting as an educator," Swanson sneered. She waved her hand at them as she stood in front of the entrance of an OR. "Faster, guppies!"

On the cue, the five interns hustled towards their resident, stopping a foot away from her. Before heading off to their assigned patients, they were going to get a quick tour of the various OR's, so they could acquaint themselves with the unfamiliar facilities.

Swanson gestured her hand towards the OR's entrance. "This is OR 1," she said, pushing open the door with her foot. "Have a look inside, familiarize yourselves with where everything is and we'll do the same with the other rooms because they're not all the same."

Jackson was the last person to walk inside. Growing up in a family of surgeons, he had seen many OR's via free tours or by watching his parents operate from the gallery. One day, he was going to be digging his hands inside of a patient in that particular OR. He wasn't going to be just a bystander anymore. In six years he would be Jackson Avery, cardio god.

He watched April write in her red notebook as she scanned the OR. She must have been mapping it out on paper based on her curious facial expressions and the fact that she was silently talking to herself. They made eye contact yet again, but she was quick to turn away and focus on memorizing where everything was in the OR.

"You know, we're not getting tested for this," he joked as he approached her. "Besides, we won't be the one getting the supplies ready."

"I know. I just… like being prepared and organized," she reluctantly answered.

Her back was facing Jackson and she was afraid to turn around and face him. From the moment she saw him, butterflies exploded in her stomach. He was a very handsome man and his smile made her legs grow weak. And guys like him hardly noticed girls like her. He was simply being polite, she thought. It was the first day on the job after all.

He walked around her, holding out his hand. "I'm Jackson Avery," he introduced himself.

_Avery_. She had heard of that name before. It was a famous name. "Like Catherine Avery?"

Jackson softly chuckled. "Yeah. She's my mother. Normally, people automatically associate my name with my grandfather. You know, the Harper Avery Award and stuff," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm not trying to brag. I hate it when people do that, to be honest. But you're the first person that I've met who mentioned my mother first."

"Oh, I used some of her articles for research in medical school. That's how I know her name," she responded as she wrote notes again. She struggled making eye contact with him, fearing she would eventually say something embarrassing instead. "I, umm… I heard they breed Avery's at Mass Gen. Why aren't you there?"

"I didn't want to deal with the pressure. It's not easy being an Avery," he said, scratching the back of his shaved head. "My sisters think I'm crazy for passing up Mass Gen, but they've been kissing my grandfather's ass since they were kids, so that place is like heaven for them."

"Being an outsider has its perks, I guess," April murmured. "Not that I think you're an outsider in general. I'm sure you have ten times the number of friends I have. I… I'm not good at making friends."

Jackson smirked at her. "Well, the first step at making friends is to make eye contact with them," he quipped. "Don't worry, I won't turn you into stone. I'm relatively harmless."

Slowly raising her head, April's eyes directly stared into his. He had beautiful eyes. A hint of blue mixed with green. She had never seen such gorgeous eyes before. He smiled at her, which only made her even more nervous around him. As cheesy as it sounded in her head, he appeared to be the perfect man she envisioned meeting one day.

But she quickly brought herself back down to Earth and already came to the conclusion that it was impossible for her, Plain Jane, to be with a guy like him, Hotty Toddy. He would soon learn why she had difficulty making and sustaining friends. She wasn't awful, but her social skills lacked flair and her perkiness often turned people off.

Swanson disrupted their conversation when she ordered them out of the OR, so they could continue their tour.

Closing her red notebook and tightly holding it against her chest, April bashfully smiled at Jackson. "It-it's nice to meet you, Jackson. Hopefully, we'll survive the year. I heard a lot of people don't," she informed him before she swiftly walked away from him.

He quietly laughed to himself when she left the OR. She definitely was socially awkward, but he thought she could be a decent friend. Charles and Reed seemed to already pride themselves for being in the same intern group as an Avery, while Trevor barely said a word to him and mostly gave him uncomfortable stares. April wasn't the type of girl he usually hung out with in Boston, but she was kind. Awkward, but kind. He wanted friends who didn't turn his name into a drinking game or asked him millions of questions about his grandfather.

She could very well be that friend.

As he headed for the exit, Swanson pressed her hand against Jackson's chest and stopped him. "Dr. Avery," she said, raising her eyebrow with a smirk on her face. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

Jackson took a deep breath after the blonde third year left him alone. "Great," he muttered to himself. Of course he would be receiving special treatment even if he didn't want it.

He was an Avery. It was impossible to walk around a hospital unnoticed, especially with his name stitched on his lab coat. Whatever. He had gone through medical school hearing everybody kiss his ass or give him a hard time because of his family name. All he could do was roll with it.

* * *

**I don't have a set schedule for this story because I'm working on two fics at the same time, but I'll try to update every week. Anyway, leave a review and let me know what you think please :)**


	2. The First 48 Hours

**Thanks for the reviews! I'll admit it's a little hard trying to get into the minds of Jackson and April as interns since we don't know a lot about their past at Mercy West. Hopefully, I'm doing an okay job though!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was past midnight and hour fifteen of a 48-hour shift. Time seemed to be moving slowly, especially when assigned to scut work all day. Of the five interns, only April had been fortunate enough to stand close to an open patient inside of an OR. The rest were on rounds, checking on patients or performing small tasks like taking samples to the lab for testing. They managed to find time to sneak away from their scut work and try to relax – and catch up on much needed sleep.

Charles had been searching for a supply closet when he stumbled upon a door leading up to the roof. The helipad wasn't located on that specific part of the roof, so it worked as a decent hiding place during breaks – and to hide from Swanson. He invited his fellow interns to join him upstairs while they weren't occupied with more scut work.

"Ah, fresh air," Reed sighed as she spread her arms out and soaked in the air. "Being out here helps me forget how gross the hospital can smell sometimes."

Jackson stood a few feet away from the edge of the building, enjoying the view of Seattle at night. The Space Needle stood out easily and the lights from the downtown area reminded him of Boston. His day hadn't been as dreadful as he thought, but it could have been better. Some trips back and forth to the lab for results and his highlight of the day was starting his first IV on a patient. Nothing to brag about, though he preferred his scut over Charles', which consisted of watching a woman in a coma and turning her over every two hours.

There were four of them on the rooftop and April wasn't one of them. He wondered if she was even invited at all. Charles and Reed weren't too fond of the perky intern, while Trevor hadn't had much of an opinion. He was fairly quiet since they met him.

"Is uhh, April coming up?" he asked curiously.

"Why would I invite Perky Brewster?" Charles answered with a chuckle.

"She's not that bad," Jackson replied defensively. "Yeah, she's… _perky_, but she's a part of our group."

Reed rolled her eyes. "This isn't Kindergarten where we all have to hold hands, so one of us doesn't get lost," she scoffed. "I think she's annoying, plain and simple. Her voice when she kisses Swanson's ass is just grating. Way too perky for me. I bet she was born out of a rainbow's vagina."

"She's hot. I'd tap that," Trevor blurted out, eliciting awkward stares from the other three interns. He quickly shrugged, shoving his hands inside of his lab coat pockets. "What? She's got the girl next door type of hotness."

Charles slowly nodded, smirking at him. "There are plenty of hot female interns in our group and you want to screw _Kepner_?"

"Can you guys stop talking about her like she's a disease?" Jackson retorted. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to protect April. He barely knew her and their only conversation happened during their tour of the OR's. They hadn't seen each other since. "We need to stick together and that includes April. If she can get surgeries easily, maybe… maybe she can help us do the same."

"Except she will actually be taking the surgeries that we want," Reed argued. "C'mon, Avery. She's already Swanson's favorite. We don't stand a chance against her."

"It hasn't even been a full 24 hours since our first shift started! She got the surgery because she wasn't late. That's all," he insisted. "We're still very much in the game, but bad mouthing April won't help you scrub in to anything."

"So you're her official bodyguard now?" Charles quipped.

"No. I just think we should all get to know each other better before making snarky judgments behind each other's backs," Jackson answered irritably. He checked his watch and suddenly gasped. "Shit!"

He sprinted past everyone, making a mad dash for the stairs. "Now where the hell is he going?" Charles inquired.

The pretty boy had forgotten to take a urine sample from one of his patients, who was suffering from a terrible kidney infection and experiencing hematuria. He was supposed to bring it to the lab five minutes ago. Fortunately Mr. Morrison was still awake to provide him with the sample he needed.

He walked as fast as he could to the lab partly due to being late _again_ and because he was carrying somebody else's urine. Even as a doctor, the thought of holding another person's bodily fluids was disgusting. He wasn't even supposed to be doing this, but Swanson informed the nurse on the case to let him do it himself just to torture him.

Turning the corner quickly, he bumped into April. The top of the cup he held popped open, spilling urine all over her orange scrubs. She gasped in horror as she figured out immediately what he was holding.

"Oooh!" Jackson stared at the brunette with wide eyes. He was more embarrassed for her than himself. She had someone else's urine sample on her scrubs after all. They stood face to face in silence. He just spilled his patient's urine on her and her facial expression appeared to be completely horrified. And he was pissed at himself because it meant he had to get another urine sample, which would take even longer since Mr. Morrison emptied his tank. "I… I am _so _sorry."

"Th-that was pee, wasn't it?" April whispered. She wasn't sure if anybody had seen the incident happen. Too afraid to look, but her eyes were focused on the spots of urine soaking her scrub top anyway. "I-I I don't even want to know what sick disease this person may have. I need to shower!"

Jackson grimaced as she ran past him. He turned around, watching her run down the hallway as he shook his head in disappointment. Make a friend, spill urine on her. He was relieved Charles or Reed hadn't seen it because it would have been even more humiliating for April with them laughing at her.

Looking down at his own scrubs, he also had spots of urine on him except most of it ended up on April. Not only did he have to change into a new set of the hideously colored scrubs but he needed to retrieve another urine sample from his patient.

The night shift of the first 48 hours officially sucked.

* * *

The interns reached the halfway mark of their shift and they were all exhausted. Some naps in between rounds, but they lasted no more than two hours. Swanson occasionally sent them pages just for the hell of it. She had to mess with them somehow as their resident. Sent Charles for a coffee run downstairs in the main lobby, asked Reed to fax a draft of her latest article before 4 AM so it would reach her publisher by 7 AM eastern standard time, assigned Trevor to roll over Mrs. Tinsley – the woman in a coma – every two hours and Jackson was stuck on bedpan duty.

April was given a break, taking in a nice 3-hour nap before she received another page from Swanson. Being on time resulted in less scut work for her. She had scrubbed in on Dr. Martin's heart valve replacement and immediately bragged about it to her parents when she found time to call them. She followed Swanson throughout most of the first 24 hours, learning about her patients and taking notes in her red notebook. She studied the charts, so she could be prepared for any on the spot questions from her resident. A few trips to the lap for blood work, but she was overall satisfied with what she experienced so far – except for the urine spill with Jackson.

She hadn't been able to mingle with her fellow interns and try to get to know them better. They were busy with scut work and she was busy learning from Swanson. But she knew from the minute she met Charles and Reed that she wasn't their favorite person. Her impression of Trevor was uncertain because they hadn't spoken a word to each other yet. Then there was Jackson. Words couldn't describe how incredibly attractive he was. Not only was he good looking, but he was polite to her. However, she wasn't sure how she could face him again after they bumped into each other the previous night.

Sitting alone in the cafeteria, April yawned as she scribbled more notes inside of her red notebook. In one hand was her pen and in the other was a spoon scooping up the oatmeal she was having for breakfast. She looked up when she heard someone clear their throat.

It was Trevor, the quietest of the group. He smiled at her and held out a cup of coffee. "Good morning," he greeted her.

"Good morning to you too," she happily greeted him back, accepting the coffee. "Thank you. I don't think we officially met. Trevor Stanley, right?"

"Yes." He sat down beside her. "And you're April Kepner, Swanson's new pet."

"I don't consider myself to be her pet. It's not my fault you were all late and got stuck with scut," she replied defensively. "I had my share of scut, so I wasn't completely lucky."

"Yeah, but you still got to scrub in for a surgery. How was it?"

"Pretty neat. Dr. Martin used a pig valve to replace the patient's old one. No complications during the operation," she answered, then she softly chuckled. "I was in charge of suction. Nothing special, but I certainly didn't expect to be in an OR on my first day."

"Better than anything I've done so far." He decided to change the subject. "What do you think about the rest of our group? I mean, Charles sounds like a douche bag and Reed is no better. And Jackson-"

"_So_ cute," April sighed. She realized she had said her thought out loud and sheepishly grinned down at her oatmeal. "Umm… don't tell him I said that. I-I I bet every woman in this hospital agrees with me, but I didn't mean to blurt that out."

Trevor smirked at her as she blushed. "He's alright," he scoffed and pointed at himself. "But me? I can rock your world. On-call room in ten?"

She slowly glanced back at him, raising her eyebrow at him. "Are you joking?"

He quickly shrugged and grinned at her. "Why not?"

"I'm not that type of woman, so no thank you, but thank you again for the coffee." April closed her red notebook and placed it inside of her lab coat pocket. She grabbed her coffee as she stood up, then she made her way to the exit. Bumping into her again was Jackson, this time spilling her coffee all over her scrubs and lab coat. "Are you kidding me?!"

Jackson scrunched his nose and groaned when she pushed past him, leaving the cafeteria in her coffee stained attire. He was positive she hated him now. Both unfortunate encounters happened by chance, but he truly felt like an ass since it was the second time in less than twelve hours.

He found Trevor sitting nearby, chuckling at him while he ate April's leftover oatmeal. "Shut up."

* * *

"Someone shoot me," Reed muttered, pointing at her forehead as she lay flat on her back on a bench inside of the locker room. She and her male companions were hiding out in there while they weren't required to check on their patients. "Someone shoot me right here, right smack dab in the middle of my head."

Charlie sat on the floor, leaning back against a set of lockers with his legs spread out in front of him. "I'd do it if my body didn't feel so heavy right now," he answered with a smirk. "In fact, after I shoot you, can somebody shoot me too?"

Jackson snickered as he ate a handful of chips. "You two are pathetic. Suck it up. We're all tired."

Trevor closed his locker and sighed. "I can't believe Kepner didn't want to sleep with me," he said disappointedly. He waved his hand up and down in front of his body. "Seriously, who doesn't want to have sex with this?"

"You have a nerd fetish, don't you?" Charles teased. The man standing beside him rolled his eyes in response. "Are you obsessed with April or something? You've been talking about her since you met her – well, when you actually build up the courage to speak."

"She seems nice," he answered, quickly shrugging his shoulders. "And I just thought if anybody was easy to sleep with, it'd be her. I suppose I should've asked her after knowing her for a week instead of a day."

"Oh, please. I highly doubt she's the sleeping around type," Reed implied, then she chuckled. "I bet she's a virgin. She changed into her scrubs in a locked bathroom, which means she's clearly uncomfortable being half-naked in front of the opposite sex. She's a prude."

"You could be right about that," Charles agreed, then he looked at Jackson. "Honestly, Avery. Would you sleep with April? Be honest."

Jackson inhaled sharply, appearing quite annoyed with his peers constantly talking about April behind her back. "Honestly? No, I wouldn't," he murmured. "She's nice, but… a little weird too."

"A kiss ass," Reed added.

"Neurotic, neat freak who writes everything in that red notebook of hers," Charles chimed in.

Trevor stroked his chin. "Or maybe she's a lesbian and that's why she didn't sleep with me," he speculated. His coworkers either rolled their eyes or shook their heads. "Reed, would you consider sleeping with me?"

Reed laughed out loud, clutching her stomach. "You wish, Stanley."

Simultaneously, their pagers sounded off. Jackson jumped onto his feet and grinned. "Incoming trauma. Sweet!" he happily said before clearing his throat. "I mean, finally something big to do. Let's go, guys."

One by one, the four interns walked out of the locker room in a hurry, so they could meet Swanson downstairs in the emergency room. Unbeknownst to the foursome, sitting alone on the opposite side of the lockers was April. A few teardrops smudged some of the freshly written notes she jotted down after listening to her colleagues talk about her. It wasn't as if she hadn't been a victim of smack talk in the past. She knew it took a while for people to like her, but that didn't mean she was invulnerable from getting her feelings hurt.

Closing her red notebook, she stuffed it inside of her lab coat pocket as she exited the locker room. She dried her eyes with her sleeve on her way down to the ER, but she knew she couldn't hide the fact that she had just cried. Her eyes were red and puffy. And she was late. She hoped Swanson wouldn't notice.

Meeting up with the others, she finished tying the back of her trauma gown when Swanson turned around to look at her. "Thanks for deciding to join us, Kepner. Now, I'm going to have to repeat myself," the resident said petulantly. "Altercation between two men after a fender bender in downtown. One pulled out a gun and shot the other. The guy coming in has three GSW's to the chest. He'll be here any minute now."

April nodded unenthusiastically. "Uh huh. Got it."

"Is there a problem, Dr. Kepner?" Swanson asked with a raised eyebrow. "If the ER is too much of a touchy area for you-"

"It's not," she insisted. Of course her resident had to notice she had been crying. "I'm okay."

Swanson faced forward. "Now, you guys will mostly be observing what's happening in the trauma room. Dr. Martin may or may not ask one or two of you to scrub in with him – assuming this patient will make it to the OR. Pay attention to everything he says regarding the patient's vitals and other information," she ordered. "Write mental notes or if you're Dr. Kepner, then you can write it in your little notebook."

Her comment made everyone but April softly laugh. The perky woman they all met at the beginning of their shift was nowhere to be found. She wasn't smiling or asking Swanson millions of questions like before. Her mood flipped and it was noticeable.

"No questions for me, Kepner?" she asked her intern. "Nothing at all?"

April slowly shook her head. "No, Dr. Swanson," she glumly replied. "I don't have any questions."

"That's a first," Reed whispered to Charles, sharing a silent laugh with him.

"Oh, but I do want to point out that Dr. Adamson forgot to draw Mrs. Hutchinson's blood earlier for the lab to check out," she responded, smiling at Swanson. "I had to do it myself because she was becoming restless. Showing signs of jaundice too, so she may be having a problem with her liver."

Swanson furrowed her eyebrows at Reed, who hesitated to speak. "I gave you a simple assignment and somebody else had to do it for you?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Not to mention, you faxed all but one page of my article and I only found this out two hours ago. My publisher wasn't pleased. You're not impressing me yet, Adamson."

April couldn't help but smile to herself. She initially wasn't going to rat out Reed for having to cover for her, but after the conversation she overheard in the locker room, a little revenge felt satisfying.

* * *

Despite her tardiness, Dr. Martin had chosen April to scrub in with him and Swanson, to Reed's dismay. She was thrilled considering she thought her resident would drop a ton of scut work on her for being late. Maybe she already impressed the cardio attending with her suctioning skills, which really wasn't a major accomplishment, but it was her second surgery in less than 48 hours. Perhaps being genuine and not gossiping about people behind their backs resulted in good karma. She already scrubbed in more than the great Jackson Avery did – although, he probably loathed her too now.

Swanson stood beside April as they scrubbed out together at the sink. They managed to salvage the GSW victim's life. Dr. Martin was considered one of the best at what he did and she was his wingman for most cardio cases.

"Want to tell me why you looked like your dog died earlier?" she asked, staring down at her hands as she rinsed off the soap.

"Excuse me?" April replied, slightly caught off-guard by the question. "I… it's nothing, Dr. Swanson. An-and I shouldn't have ratted out Reed like that. I don't want to be that person who has to bring down other people to make myself feel better."

"No, you should have because she already has this mindset that she's the next great surgeon when you guppies haven't done squat yet," Swanson assured her. "Even though you've been in the OR twice now, you don't know squat either, but at least you've already had the experience. You're a baby step up above the others."

"But I don't want to come off as a pet."

Swanson chuckled as she shook her head. "You can't worry about what others are thinking about you," she advised. Grabbing a new towel, she turned to face April as she dried her hands. "You don't have a ton of confidence in yourself. I could already see that when you showed up in the ER with tears in your eyes. As interns, you all want to show us what you can do. People are gonna get ugly trying to outshine each other, maybe try to backstab you. Just deal with it, Kepner. You can't make everyone like you."

She watched April slightly nod her head, then she pointed at herself. "A lot of residents don't like me. I'm just a third year and I've scrubbed in with Dr. Martin more than some fifth years have. I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but I can't help it if I'm better than them. I work hard. Surgeries aren't just given to me on a silver platter," she continued. "So they could talk all the shit they want about me behind my back, but that only gives me more motivation to become a better surgeon. Whatever people are saying about you, use that as your motivation. Build up your confidence or else you won't last halfway through your internship year."

"Thank you, Dr. Swanson," April softly said as she dried her hands.

Swanson placed her hand on April's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "One thing I like about you so far, Kepner – you haven't complained once about the scut I've asked you to do. The others may assume I haven't heard them bitching, but I have very good ears," she insisted, smiling at her intern. "And they're bad mouthing you because they're intimidated. Don't let whatever they say get to you. Only _you_ can keep you down."

And with that, she was left alone in the scrub room to take in everything her resident told her. For the first time in many hours, April was smiling again. She kept a mental memo to herself to write down her advice in her red notebook.

_Only you can keep you down._

She was going to stick by those words from now on.

* * *

Finally, the first 48-hour shift of their young surgical careers was over. All five interns were eager to leave the hospital and sleep in their beds all day long until their next shift arrived.

Jackson still had to deal with finding an apartment. He had been staying in a hotel since he arrived in Seattle, which happened the day before the start of his first shift. Charles offered him and Trevor his apartment since his two roommates from medical school moved out of the state. He didn't trust the guy enough yet to consider living with him, but at least he had a secure option. But really, he just wanted to sleep.

He didn't have a car yet either. He used public transportation to get to the hospital. So many tasks to take care of, but sleep was his priority at the moment.

Walking to the bus stop where he was dropped off two days ago, he spotted April sitting alone and waiting for her own bus to arrive. She was writing in her red notebook again, which didn't surprise him.

"Hey," he greeted, sitting next to her. "That almost felt like a never ending shift, huh?"

"I suppose," she replied, closing her notebook and avoiding eye contact with him.

"So, I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier with the piss… and the coffee," he sheepishly said. Jackson softly laughed and rubbed his eyes. "I'm normally not that clumsy, but I guess that's what lack of sleep does to me."

"It's fine," she murmured.

Jackson sensed something was wrong with April. Her responses barely showed any emotion. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm tired," she insisted, standing up when her bus arrived. April walked towards the open door before she turned around to look at Jackson. "You're just like Reed and Charles. Hell, even Trevor is an ass. I'd appreciate it if you stopped pretending to be my friend. I have a feeling you weren't friends with weirdos anyway."

He raised both of his eyebrows, surprised to find out she heard their conversation in the locker room. If she hadn't rushed into the bus so fast, he would have tried to explain himself. He was being honest, but he felt like crap about it, especially since he realized she had been in the locker room as well. She was the one person he thought he could trust to be his friend and not because he was an Avery.

And now she hated him.

* * *

**Let me know what you think please! :)**


	3. The First Solo

**Thank you for the reviews! I'm really having fun writing this story :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A week had passed since the newest batch of interns started their careers at Mercy West. They survived the dreaded 48-hour shift and were now working on shifts with less hours. Still long days, but much more tolerable than their first shift. Each of them had a better idea of how the hospital ran and were used to performing large amounts of scut work.

What they were all waiting for was the infamous first solo surgery that would be awarded to one lucky intern – or unlucky, depending on whether or not the intern could successfully complete an appendectomy without any problems. It was typically set up for them to fail, but most interns were too eager to dip their hands into an open patient to realize they had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Nobody knew what the criteria was to be chosen. Sometimes an attending chose an intern based on potential or how arrogant he or she was. Of course, they didn't want their intern to kill the patient, but botching the procedure didn't come as a surprise for the attending hovering over their shoulder. Defeating the angry appendix and keeping the patient alive meant surgical rock star status for at least a week. Failing to complete the surgery meant receiving endless teasing from peers.

"So what's your decision, Avery? Are you gonna move in or not?" Charles asked while he ate lunch with Jackson, Reed and Trevor in the cafeteria. He had given the Boston native a tour of his apartment. It wasn't far from the hospital, about a 5-minute drive.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Jackson answered, smiling down at his sandwich. "Better than paying for a hotel room."

"Awesome! You, me and Trevor – we're gonna have a blast living together." Charles smirked at Reed. "Ha! Got my roommates taken care of. What about you? Nobody interested?"

Reed rolled her eyes. "I haven't found anybody I want to live with." She pointed out a few other interns in the cafeteria with them. "Jill Dwyer has a cat and I'm allergic to cats, Gretchen Poncy says she hates anything loud and doesn't like parties, and I caught Kylie Yancy trying to steal a dress from my closet."

"What about her?" Jackson nodded his head towards April, who was sitting alone at a table.

"Funny," she sarcastically replied. "Why would I ask her to live with me? She already made me look stupid in front of Swanson."

"Well, if she's a neat freak, she'll probably do all of the cleaning in your apartment," he noted. "At least your place will be tidy because of her. Even if she gets on your nerves, she's useful for something. I'm just saying."

Reed dismissively waved her hand. "I don't care if she cooks, cleans and does my laundry. There's no way I'll ever consider living with April," she declared. "I bet she's the type of person who loves chore wheels. Why don't _you_ move in with her if you want someone else to clean your crap?"

Charles slightly grimaced. "My apartment only has three bedrooms. Unless, Avery and Stanley play rock, paper, scissors to find out who will have to share a room with Kepner," he suggested with a grin on his face.

"It was just a suggestion," Jackson retorted. "She can't possibly be worse than the people you did interview, Reed. Besides, you two can live together without having to talk to each other. Just stay out of each other's way."

"No thank you. I'd rather live Klepto Kylie." Reed watched April intently as the latter ate her lunch and wrote in her red notebook at the same time. "What do you think she writes in there? Do you think she says anything about us?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. I'm pretty sure she hates me," he replied disappointedly. "And all of us for that matter."

"Because of the coffee thing?" Trevor asked amused. "It was an accident. People spill coffee on people all the time."

Jackson softly chuckled as he stared down at his lunch. "I also spilled a patient's urine on her too," he admitted. He rolled his eyes when they all laughed hysterically at him. "But that's not why she's pissed at me. She was in the locker room when you guys were talking crap about her. She heard everything."

Charles pointed his finger at Jackson. "What do you mean _you guys_? You said she was weird."

"I was being honest. You were being rude," he argued.

"So what if she knows what we've been saying about her?" his new roommate asked, unbothered by Jackson's admission. "At least we don't have to pretend to like her anymore."

"You _never_ pretended to like her since day one," the pretty boy replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "You judged her from the very second we met her. Are you and Reed always this superficial?"

"Need a tampon to go with your bitching, Avery?" Charles teased, resulting in Jackson getting up from his seat. "Oh, c'mon. Don't be so damn sensitive like Kepner. We'll be nicer to her, alright?"

Jackson ignored him as he carried his tray towards April's table. She quickly noticed his presence and closed her red notebook. "Want some company?" She shrugged her shoulders in response. He sat down beside her and held out his hand with a smile on his face. "I'm Jackson Avery."

April smirked at him. "I know who you are."

"Aren't you going to shake my hand?"

"What did you do to it?"

Jackson laughed, shaking his head. "Nothing, I swear. I want to start over with a clean slate," he insisted. "You know my name, so what's yours?"

"April Kepner," she replied, rolling her eyes as she shook his hand. Her eyes gazed over at the other table where Charles, Reed and Trevor were watching them. "So, why did they send you over here?"

"They didn't. I decided to join you on my own." He saw the uncertainty in her face and sighed. "I also wanted to apologize for everything that happened last week. For what they said about you and what I said too."

She poked at her salad. "You're not the first person to call me weird. I just thought you weren't fake like the other three," she murmured.

"I'm not like them. They haven't even tried to get to know you."

"Well, you haven't either."

"That doesn't mean I don't want to try. Why do you think I'm sitting next to you?"

"Out of pity?"

Jackson pursed his lips. April was clearly a very insecure woman. He didn't want to admit it to her, but most women were easily turned on by his charm. He knew how to win points from them. However, his fellow intern wasn't biting. Some real effort was going to be needed to break through to her.

"Why don't you believe me?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Because guys like you don't talk to girls like me," she answered, refusing to look at his sparkling bluish-green eyes.

"Guys like me?"

"Yes, guys like you are into the popular pretty girls. You know, the ones who aren't _weird_?"

Jackson chuckled. "For your information, there are plenty of pretty girls who are weird. Weird girls can be pretty too… or beautiful," he assured her. She laughed off his comment, though she was slightly blushing. "Anyway, how can you possibly know what type of girls I'm into? What if I wasn't popular in high school?"

April tilted her head, raising an eyebrow at him. "I find that hard to believe."

"Okay, so I _was_ popular in high school, but that doesn't mean anything," he confessed. "If you must know, I prefer down to earth women. I can't even count on my fingers and toes how many women tried to use me because of my grandfather or my appearance. I sort of have trust issues because of that."

Was he trying to tell her that he found her attractive? She didn't want to believe that. She _refused_ to believe it.

From her first impressions of Jackson, he came off as a Prince Charming type of person. He was by far the most attractive man she had ever met. The farm boys she knew back in Moline and the frat boys in Akron didn't compare to him. Not even close. And he was a nice man, but she kept reminding herself in her mind that he thought she was weird. Why would he want a weird girl when he could have a hot model-type of woman?

Before she could respond, she looked up to see a male attending standing over them. His name was Dr. Craig Winston. He was a general surgeon at Mercy West. Tall and bald with glasses like Harry Potter. He had potential to become Chief of Surgery one day because his coworkers bowed down to him. So what exactly did he want?

"Interns, I have an announcement to make," Dr. Winston called out. He waited for the cafeteria noise to die down before he continued, "Yours truly has chosen one lucky intern to take part in the first solo surgery of your young careers. We have a patient in need of an appendectomy, so somebody will be scrubbing in with me in one hour."

Charles rubbed his palms together. "This is it. This is my chance to shine in the spotlight," he whispered to Reed.

Reed covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. "Yeah, because rolling over Mrs. Tinsley for a whole week warrants you the first solo," she sarcastically replied. "It's going to be freaking Kepner since she's the only one who's been in an OR as far as I know."

"And the winner is..." He placed his hand on top of Jackson's shoulder. "Dr. Avery."

Some interns groaned, while a few others lightly applauded. Jackson dropped his sandwich, his mouth partially open and his eyes growing wide. He slowly gazed up at Dr. Winston. "Me?"

"Is there another Dr. Avery in this cafeteria?" he sneered before he patted his shoulder. "I'll see you in OR 2 in one hour. Congratulations and don't be late."

After the general surgeon left, April softly smiled at Jackson, though she was disappointed. Being the overachiever that she was, she had prepared herself for the intern solo since she started working at the hospital. She watched videos on the Internet on surgeons performing appendectomies and took notes in her red notebook. All of that hard work went to waste.

"That's great for you," she said, despite the apprehensive look on his face. "You'll be fine."

"Crap, now the others are probably assuming I was chosen because I'm an Avery," he muttered. Jackson rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. "I have an hour to get ready. Oh, shit! I only have an hour to calm myself down!"

He jumped up from his chair and bolted out of the cafeteria, startling April and the people around them in the process. "Good luck," she mumbled to herself. Based on how panicked he acted, he was going to need it.

* * *

A few groups of interns, including Jackson's, were scrunched together inside of OR 2's gallery to watch him perform his first solo surgery. He managed to calm his nerves and with some last minute research, he felt ready. He had learned how to perform an appendectomy back in high school when he occasionally shadowed surgeons at Mass Gen. And he watched many appendixes come and go all the way through medical school. Just one of the many advantages of being an Avery.

Dr. Winston waited for Jackson a few feet away from the operating table. Unless a major disaster happened, his intern would be alone for this surgery. Appendectomies were a piece of cake for him. He would perform them blindfolded if he was allowed to.

"What a load of crap," Charles whined with his arms folded. He watched Jackson enter the OR after he finished scrubbing in. "I bet this was planned all along. Avery was always gonna be chosen for this surgery. He'll ace this, make us all look like idiots and all of the chicks will want to do him. I'd rather see Kepner choke than watch Avery show us all up."

"I'm sitting right here, you know," April sternly said as she leaned forward to glare at Charles. She was only two seats away from him and his loud voice. He had to be the most annoying person she had met since she moved to Seattle.

Charles eyed her red notebook, which was sitting on her lap. "So what kind of crap do you write about us in there?"

"I don't… write anything about you," she reluctantly replied, clutching her notebook tightly.

"Bullshit. You totally write about us," he claimed. Charles reached his arm across Trevor, who sat in between them, and attempted to grab her notebook. "Spill your secrets, Kepner."

April slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone, you jerk!"

Swanson entered the gallery and stood by the window. She watched Charles and April bicker amongst each other, forcing her to clear her throat to make her presence known. "Guppies, pay attention. The surgery is about to begin," she ordered. "Sit up straight and keep quiet. You could be down there one day performing your own solo."

All of the interns listened to the resident and faced forward. They watched Jackson take his place beside his patient.

Jackson smiled behind his surgical mask. He was confident and ready – until he spotted somebody with a large video camera standing a few feet away from him. It wasn't the type of camera they typically used to film surgeries. _He_ was the one being filmed. "Uhh… what's that for?" he asked, pointing at the camera.

"Oh, we thought it would be great advertising for Mercy West if we used footage of an Avery performing surgery in this hospital," Dr. Winston explained. "Also, we informed your mother about this and she wants a copy of your first solo."

"My mother wants a copy?" he asked, looking back at the attending with wide eyes.

"Is there a problem, Dr. Avery?"

He quickly shook his head and faced forward. There was no way he wanted to ruin this opportunity. "No. No, there's no problem," he said, his voice squeaking. "Ten blade, please."

A nurse handed him a scalpel, which signaled the cameraman to turn on a bright light attached to his video camera. Jackson squinted his eyes and shielded them with his forearm. "That's uhh, a little too much… umm… could you back up a bit?" he nervously asked. "I… I'm not comfortable with that camera being here, actually."

It wasn't the camera that scared him. It was being filmed that made him nervous. He never figured out why that was, but the nerves he vanquished earlier were back. His hand was visibly shaking as he stared at his patient.

"Time is ticking, Avery," Dr. Winston reminded him. "We can't stand around forever. That anesthesia isn't going to wait for you either. I highly doubt Mr. Xavier wants to wake up in the middle of surgery."

Then, it started happening. The lightheadedness, excessive sweating, heavy breathing. It wasn't the first time he experienced these symptoms and they always resulted in humiliation. He tried to fight his nerves and stay on his feet, but…

The interns gasped in unison when Jackson fainted. Charles applauded as Dr. Winston and two nurses rushed to the pretty boy's side. "Oh, man! This is priceless!" He laughed in amusement until he caught Swanson giving him the death stare. He immediately stopped and fought back a smile. "Uhh, that sucks for him."

Swanson rolled her eyes, then she looked down at the OR. She received permission from below to choose another intern. "Who would like to scrub in for their first solo?" All hands instantly shot up, but she already knew who she wanted to pick. "Kepner, there's no time to waste. Hustle, hustle!"

April grinned brightly as she scurried out of the gallery. Her concern for Jackson evaporated for the moment. She was too excited about getting a chance at her first solo. She scrubbed in, then gleefully walked inside of the OR to take the passed out intern's place.

Reed inhaled sharply when April made her first cut. "I really hate that girl."

* * *

"Fantastic work, Dr. Kepner," Dr. Winston congratulated her. She successfully completed the appendectomy with flying colors. No hesitation, no second guessing. Her studying paid off greatly. "This test was designed for interns to fail, but you succeeded. You were composed and you knew what you were doing. You, are the future of medicine."

April couldn't stop smiling as she shook the attending surgeon's hand. "Thank you, Dr. Winston. That means a lot," she chirped. She wrote down the last part of his compliment in her red notebook.

_You, are the future of medicine_.

Closing her notebook, she strolled down the hallway with a skip in her stride. She felt like she was on top of the world. Her parents were going to be excited about how she kicked ass in her first solo surgery.

But her excitement took a small dip when she saw a distraught Jackson walking towards her direction. His shoulders were slumped with his hands inside of his lab coat pockets and his head was down, facing the floor. He wanted to be as small as possible. He felt humiliated. Some of the interns, especially Charles, weren't going to let him forget how badly he choked.

Avery's didn't choke nor did they pass out in operating rooms. He already ignored three phone calls from Catherine Avery. This was one conversation he easily wanted to avoid for a while.

April decided to follow him when he turned and entered another door. A flight of stairs led her up to the rooftop, the same one Charles discovered last week. Sitting against a wall with his face buried against his knees was Jackson. Rough, rough day for the Golden Child, a name she overheard Dr. Winston call him in the OR.

He heard footsteps approaching him and lifted his head to see who followed him. He actually felt relieved that it wasn't Charles, Reed or any other intern. While he would rather be alone, he didn't mind her company.

She slowly sat down beside him. They were silent for about a minute until she decided to speak first. "I was into musicals in high school," she said, drawing a confused look from Jackson. "It sounds random, I know. I'll get to the point eventually. Umm… during my sophomore year, I was cast in _Les Misérables_. I got to play Éponine and I was really, really looking forward to it because I would be singing 'On My Own'. I practiced for hours and on opening night, I froze… in front of a packed auditorium. My whole family was there and I couldn't let out a peep during my musical number. And to add on to the embarrassment, I tripped over my own feet and I stumbled off of the stage. I landed face first in front of everybody."

Jackson chuckled as April grimaced. "That… must have sucked ass."

"It did because pretty much everyone laughed at me. My older sister Libby, who was a senior and super popular, made my life a living hell for the rest of the year," she recalled, rolling her eyes. "Her friends, especially the jocks, were calling me Nosedive Kepner. I never tried out for another musical again after that. I was just so humiliated. I normally never talk about that incident, but I wanted you to know that I totally empathize with what happened to you earlier."

"Thanks, but this isn't the first time I've embarrassed myself like this," he confessed, sadly smiling down at his basketball shoes. "Graduation. I was my class' valedictorian. Of course, I had to do the speech thing and all of these cameras were on me. I don't know why they bother me so much, but I just become incredibly insecure about being filmed. It makes me feel like I'm under a microscope and the nerves take over. Anyway, I blew chunks all over the stage in front of at least 2,000 people."

April gasped, then she shuddered in disgust. "Oh, that's terrible," she sympathetically said. "So that's why you fainted? Because you were being filmed?"

Jackson sheepishly nodded. "My family's going to give me so much shit for this. I can already hear my grandfather nagging me, 'This wouldn't have happened if you chose Mass Gen, Jackson. What are you trying to prove being all the way out there in Seattle'?" he said, imitating Harper's voice.

"I'm the pretty one in the family. They thought I'd move to New York or L.A. and become a model. They didn't believe I had the brains to become a doctor, so I had to push myself. My grandfather and my mother feel they have to baby me through this process of becoming a good surgeon, but I wanted to be independent. It's only been a week and I've already managed to screw things up."

"But that doesn't mean you won't be great," she assured him. "We have six years of residency to learn and become kick ass surgeons. You can't let what happened today ruin your career."

"He picked me for a reason, April. Winston chose me because I'm an Avery. He thought my name would fancy up Mercy West and draw crowds of prospective interns," he bitterly said. "And Swanson's been on my ass since day one. They're watching me closely, waiting for me to fail and show them that not every Avery is invincible."

April rolled her eyes. "Winston told me that appendectomy was supposed to make interns fail – although, you didn't actually get to touch your patient-" She paused when he scowled at her. "You're not used to being a zero, are you?"

"Zero," he snickered. "That's a nice way to put it, but no. I'm not."

"Well, take it from somebody who knows what it's like to feel that way a lot," she said, slightly frowning. "But I'm trying to make the most of my opportunities here. So far, I've been enjoying the surgical side of things. The social side? Not so much."

He sighed. "Listen, I told them to stop talking crap about you. I'm really sorry you had to hear all of that."

"But they're right. I _am_ a neat freak. I do take pride in being organized. And I'll admit to being a little neurotic sometimes and I _can_ be a suck up." April held up a finger and laughed. "Except I'm not a lesbian. Trevor's just… I don't know what's up with that guy, but he seems to be more interested in sex than surgery."

"I never thought you were." Jackson grinned at her. "Want to know something weird about me?"

"I can't believe there's anything weird about you," she shyly answered, brushing her hair behind her ear.

He shook his head and pointed at his shoes. "Well, believe it. See these shoes? They're just one of sixty pairs of sneakers I brought with me from Boston. I'm a sneakerhead. I spend about an hour or two cleaning my shoes when I have the time," he replied, sharing a laugh with her. "I kind of freak out if I spot a smidge of dirt on them. I cherish them like they're my babies."

"That… _is_ weird," she slowly said before she giggled. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who cares that much about their shoes. I'd rather be a neat freak than obsessed with shoes, thank you."

"I'm not obsessed," he claimed and fought back a smile. "Okay, maybe a little. Haven't you collected anything before?"

"I used to collect Beanie Babies in high school."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows as he smiled back at her. "What the hell are Beanie Babies?"

April waved her hand and laughed. "Forget it. It was just a phase that I grew out of," she insisted. "So, are you feeling better yet?"

"Yeah, I guess." He gently patted her thigh, his charming smile forcing her to look away again. "Thanks for being cool about all of this. You're probably the only intern here who hasn't given me a hard time because of who I am."

"I don't care that you're an Avery- well, I mean I do care, but I don't- umm…" She bit her lower lip to stop rambling. This may have been the longest she had spoken to an attractive man without making herself sound pathetic. Jackson wasn't like the other hot guys who only talked to her because they wanted to copy her homework.

Maybe he did want to be her friend.

"So… a-are we like… f-friends?" she stammered.

"Well, if you trust me as much as I trust you, then yeah," he answered, nodding his head. "We're friends."

"Cool beans," she bashfully said and winced afterwards. "Oh, gosh. Pretend I didn't just say that."

Jackson chuckled at how red her cheeks quickly became. She was quirky, but interesting. He appreciated the fact that being an Avery wasn't a big deal to her. And instead of running around the hospital bragging about how she successfully performed her first solo surgery, she was on the roof comforting him after looking like a doofus in the OR.

Most people he knew would simply tell him to suck it up and move on. April cared enough to talk to him. He admired her for that.

* * *

**Let me know what you think please :) And two more days until GA, so hopefully we'll get another sweet J/A scene before the hiatus!**


	4. You Saved My Ass

**Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it :) So I'm not a medical expert and used some research (and a little help from a GA episode) for this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Since their conversation on the roof, April and Jackson were able to bond and become friends. During their free time, they shared information about themselves – their childhood, favorite movies and TV shows, favorite music. Anything to strike up a conversation when they weren't busy saving lives or dealing with scut work.

For April, it was nice to finally consider one of her coworkers her friend after a few weeks into the job. Charles and Reed still hadn't warmed up to her, but she gave up trying with those two. Trevor was occupied with hitting on the female nurses, so she didn't have to worry about him asking her to sleep with him anymore. And getting to know Jackson only intensified her attraction to him, but she continued to remind herself that they would be nothing more than friends.

For Jackson, his fainting spell in the OR wasn't as humiliating as he expected it be because after a week, some of the other female interns were noticing him. All it took was one glance at his shirtless body in the locker room and they were smitten. He had the body of an Abercrombie & Fitch model, a muscular physique with rock hard abs that made most of the men jealous of him. He quickly became Mr. Popular with the female population of the hospital, which didn't bode well for April. Now she truly believed she had zero chance of dating him.

She entered the locker room to change into her scrubs before the start of her shift. Other interns were inside getting ready as well, one of them being Jackson. Growing up without any brothers, she certainly wasn't used to sharing a locker room with the opposite sex. She never had to change clothes in front of a boy throughout her life and that changed when she began her residency at Mercy West. Seeing the bodies of the other women made her insecure about her own, so she would use the lockable restroom for privacy.

"Good morning, April," Jackson greeted her while he removed his t-shirt.

"Hey, Jacks- _oh_." Her eyes were focused on his perfect abs. They were hypnotizing and she had trouble looking away. Unsure of what to do, she opened her red notebook and covered her face with one hand while she opened her locker with the other. "How-how are you doing today?"

"I'm alright," he replied, raising his eyebrow at her as she fumbled with her belongings. "You?"

April nervously laughed after she dropped her purse. "I'm fine," she shyly said, kneeling down to pick up her purse. "Just gotta change for work."

Jackson watched her retrieve her scrubs in amusement. She continued to hold up her red notebook to hide her face. "Is something wrong?" he asked and chuckled. "Got a zit you don't want me to see?"

"O-oh, no. I… I'm trying to catch up on some notes I wrote down for this… patient I'm following with Dr. Martin," she lied, although she actually was on a case with the cardio surgeon. "I should hurry up and change, huh?"

"Oh, uhh… you don't want to go in that restroom," he warned her. "Actually, you can't anyway. Charles ate some awful enchiladas last night at the apartment and he's been feeling horrible since then, so trust me. Even if he comes out, you don't want to be the first person after him."

April set her notebook down inside of her locker. "Are you lying to me?"

"No. Why would I lie about that?"

"Well, could you turn around while I change, please?" she timidly asked. Her back was facing the pretty boy to hide her blushing cheeks.

He softly laughed and turned away. It was adorable how apprehensive she was about changing in front of him. "I'm not looking, so you're free to change."

She turned her head to quickly double check to see if he was being sincere. His back was facing hers as he wore his orange scrub top, then she removed her jacket and hung it inside of her locker. Behind her she could hear one of the other female interns greeting him in a seductive tone, which forced her to roll her eyes. She had a feeling she would be able to figure out who the skanks were in their intern class based on how they talked to her friend.

Jackson slipped on his lab coat, double checking his pockets for the supplies he typically kept in them. Out of curiosity, he looked back at April. Clad in a white bra, a smile formed from the corner of his lips. He was a guy. He loved checking out women, and that included his innocent and shy friend. Her scrub top hid the body shape he noticed for the first time. Not too curvy, but not too slim either. Almost perfect, in his opinion. And her skin was _pale_, which she claimed was due to the fact that she only burned under the sun so tanning was out of the question. Yeah, he was checking her out.

But she would probably kill him if he told her the truth. Charles wasn't in the restroom becoming best friends with the toilet. He simply wanted her to break out of her insecure shell and grow comfortable with changing in front of the opposite sex.

He faced forward when she turned to pick up her scrub top from the bench. "So, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. You go ahead," she said, as she wore her scrub top.

"Okay," he replied, closing his locker with a smile on his face. "See you later then."

April let out a sigh of relief when he left her alone in their aisle. Changing next to him had been nerve wracking, especially after she saw him half-naked. "Wow," she mouthed to herself.

Jackson Avery was _not_ a man. In her mind, he was a freaking god.

* * *

While the men were assigned to rectal exams, both April and Reed were assigned to a cardio case with Dr. Greg Martin. He was the Head of Cardiothoracics and Swanson's mentor. Together, they led the two female interns into their patient's room. Waiting for them was a Hispanic man around his mid-50's and his wife.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Gutierrez," Dr. Martin greeted the couple. He gestured his hand towards Swanson and his interns. "You've already met Dr. Swanson and these two young ladies are Dr. Kepner and Dr. Adamson. Dr. Swanson, could you go over Mr. Gutierrez's history for our interns, please?"

The blonde resident nodded. "Luis Gutierrez, age 56. The patient suffers from chronic mitral valve regurgitation, a heart condition in which the blood flows backwards from the left ventricle and into the left atrium. His symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue and swelling in the feet." She looked at her interns. "Why would there be swelling in his feet?"

Reed opened her mouth to speak, but April beat her to the answer. "The backward flow of his blood in his heart is causing a lower blood output to the rest of his body," she chirped.

"And what could have caused the MR?"

"Coronary heart disease, infection, a heart attack-"

"Thank you, Dr. Kepner," Swanson interrupted and smiled at her. "Mr. Gutierrez suffered a heart attack seven years ago. His heart attack likely damaged the muscles of his mitral valve. Also, his symptoms for MR didn't appear until a year ago. A chest X-ray showed an enlarged left ventricle. Dr. Martin also performed a cardiac catheterization to determine if there was any further damage. There was significant damage to the valve, which will require a valve replacement."

Reed watched April diligently write down everything Swanson was reciting. Trying to take a peek inside of her red notebook, the Ohio native shifted her position to hide her notes from her.

Dr. Martin nodded his head once. "Thank you, Dr. Swanson. There are two types of replacement valves that Mr. Gutierrez can choose from, though both choices have their advantages and disadvantages," he explained before looking at April and Reed. "Dr. Kepner and Dr. Adamson, can you clarify the advantages and disadvantages of both a mechanical and a tissue valve?"

Once again, April managed to speak before Reed could. "A mechanical valve can last from 20 to 30 years, which means there's a chance you wouldn't need another valve replacement because it's more durable. Whereas, the tissue valve only lasts for about 8 to 15 years. _However, _one is more likely to develop blood clots with a mechanical valve than a tissue valve. Plus, you would have to take anticoagulants for the rest of your life to prevent blood clots if you choose the mechanical valve."

"Thank you, Dr. Kepner." Dr. Martin faced his patient again. "It really depends on what you're comfortable with. Going with the tissue valve is my recommendation. You're still quite young and it's possible a tissue valve _can_ outlive you if you take care of your body post-surgery. I'll have Dr. Swanson go over everything with you and I'll come back in a half an hour to get your answer."

Before he left the hospital room, he patted April's shoulder. "Nice work, Dr. Kepner. I'm looking forward to having you scrub in with us again." He sighed when he glanced over at Reed. "You need to be more assertive, Dr. Adamson."

Reed desperately wanted to strangle April for embarrassing her yet again. She glared at the perky brunette, while Swanson focused on explaining the procedure with Mr. Gutierrez. The woman standing beside her was her top competition and so far, she was getting whooped badly. All she needed was to find one weakness to bring her down a notch.

"You know, cutting people off is _rude_," she harshly whispered to her enemy.

"Maybe you should be quicker next time," April replied, smiling down at her notes.

After Swanson finished talking to Mr. Gutierrez, she motioned her arm to signal her interns to follow her out in the hallway. "Well, he's taking some time to think it over. In the meantime, I want some coffee," she demanded, staring at Reed. "Adamson, do you mind?"

"Nope," Reed unenthusiastically answered.

"Thank you." Swanson looked at April. "And I need you to go run to the lab and pick up the test results of Ms. Carter's blood work. Come find me in the research library when you get it."

"Got it," April cheerfully said.

As both Swanson and April turned to leave, Reed watched her fellow intern close her red notebook and attempt to slide it into her lab coat pocket. Instead, she missed and surprisingly didn't notice. There was her moment. The San Diego native hardly considered herself to be a mean spirited person. Competitive? Yes, and having to work with April brought out the big time competitor in her. Trying not to appear suspicious, she bent over and casually picked up the notebook. She hid it in her lab coat before she ventured off to buy her resident a cup of coffee.

* * *

"I'm freaking out, Jackson! I don't know where it is," April panicked as she paced back and forth in front of Jackson, tightening her ponytail. They were on the rooftop, so she could try to relax, but it wasn't working. It took her about five minutes to realize she misplaced her red notebook. She pointed at her left lab coat pocket. "I swear, I had it with me this whole time. It was with me when I was in Dr. Martin's patient's room. I was writing notes in it!"

Jackson sighed as he leaned back against a wall. "Calm down for a minute." He grabbed her shoulders to stop her pacing. "It… it's just a notebook, right?"

"It's _not_ just a notebook. I also write some very personal things in there," she softly said and frowned. "Personal things that I never wanted anybody to find out about. What if- what if _Reed_ has it?"

"That would suck. I'm not gonna lie," he truthfully said.

April rolled her eyes as she walked away from Jackson. "It would've been better if you just told me a janitor picked it up and threw it away. I'd be okay with that," she replied worriedly. "I think I'm going to go jump off the building now."

He chuckled as he followed her towards the edge. "Oh, c'mon. It's not the end of the world." She stopped a few feet away from the edge and he stood behind her. "If you're seriously gonna jump, you should probably move a little bit closer to the edge."

"I can't. I'm acrophobic," she groaned. "If I'm too close, I'll look down and possibly pass out and fall to my death. I was obviously being dramatic for a second. Like I'm really going to jump."

"You fooled me for a second," he sarcastically said, turning her around to face him. "I'll help you find your notebook, alright? It's gotta be around here somewhere. Things don't just vanish into thin air."

"I kind of wish I could," she mumbled, biting down on her lower lip.

Jackson shook his head. "You have to stop doing that."

"Stop doing what?"

"Putting yourself down. Why are you constantly crapping on yourself like you're some big loser?" he asked with his arms folded.

"Because I _am_ one," she murmured, looking down at her shoes. "Okay, maybe I'm not a loser when it comes to medicine, but socially? I only have one friend here and that's you. I wish I could call Swanson a friend, but she sort of scares the crap out of me. Oh, and Harry the janitor's been really nice to me, so I suppose I have one and a half friends-"

"Just let other people try to get to know you," he advised. "And don't try too hard either. Be yourself."

April softly laughed. "I _have_ been myself. That's the problem," she insisted. "The rest of our group hates me because I showed you guys up on our first day and nothing's changed with them. And you're becoming really popular, so it's like high school all over again. Pretty soon you'll forget about me and you'll only want to hang out if you need help with something."

Jackson wanted to shake the insecurities out of her. Her self-esteem was so low sometimes that it was unbearable, but as her friend, he felt it was his duty to stick by her side no matter what. All she needed was a confidence boost, though he hadn't figured out how to help her with that yet.

"You're a great friend. You're not fake or trying to be somebody you're not and I respect that," he replied, flashing his charming smile at her. "That's why I like hanging around you. I'm a loyal guy, so I'm not gonna stop being your friend even if I'm dating some hot woman."

The last part of his advice rubbed her the wrong way. It reminded her once again why they could only be friends.

"I… have to go. My patient's surgery is in 20 minutes, so I should get ready for that," she excused herself, walking past him in a hurry. "If you find my notebook, please don't read it."

"I won't," he called out to her. "And good luck on your surgery!"

* * *

"This is my favorite one," Reed said, flipping through the pages of April's red notebook. She was hanging out by a vending machine with Charles and Trevor since she wasn't scrubbing in for the heart valve replacement procedure with April. "Jackson Avery is not a man. He's a freaking god."

Charles dismissively waved his hand. "Because of those abs? Oh, please. That's nothing," he scoffed before pointing at his face. "Do you have any idea how long it takes for me to look _this_ good?"

Reed smirked at her friend. "Give me a break, Charlie. Have you seen Jackson's body? I'd sleep with him in a heartbeat," she confessed.

"One, I don't check out the guys in the locker room. And B, at least I haven't passed out in an OR like he has."

"That's because you haven't been in an OR yet," she pointed out.

Charles scowled at her. "Blame Swanson. She's had me on her shit list since the first day."

Trevor lifted his scrub top to reveal his own set of six-pack abs. "I think mine are better," he insisted. "Avery's are nice, but I'm pretty sure I spend more quality time toning mine."

"Checkin' out Avery now?" Charles teased.

"Of course not. There's nothing wrong with checking out the competition," Trevor replied, forcing himself to laugh. He nodded his head towards Reed. "Look at Reed. She stole April's notebook because she's her top competition."

"I didn't _steal_ it. She dropped it and I was being a nice person by picking it up, so it doesn't get lost in the trash," Reed answered nonchalantly. "And if she really didn't want anybody reading her thoughts, she should've bought a diary with a lock instead."

Charles reached for the red notebook, but Reed held it away from him. "I want to read what else she said in there. What'd she say about us?"

"Hang on to your panties, Charlie. I'll get there in a second," the brunette quipped as she flipped back to older pages of the notebook. She remained silent for a moment while she skimmed through April's comments. Her face transformed into a look of disgust. "She thinks we act like a married couple. Uhh, no. That's gross. You're like my brother."

"Like a brother from another mother?" he asked curiously, drawing a confused look from her. "What?"

Reed noticed Jackson walking down the hallway and closed the red notebook. They were fully aware of his friendship with April even though they didn't quite understand it. Beauty and the Geek, a nickname Charles gave them. It was funny, but true. "Here, take it!" she whispered to Charles, tossing the notebook at him.

"I don't want it!" he retorted, throwing it towards Trevor's direction.

While the threesome played Hot Potato with the red notebook, Jackson was inching closer and closer. Trevor had it last and immediately threw it at the pretty boy's face. "What the hell, Stanley?!" he snapped, rubbing his nose as he glared at the Utah native.

Reed slapped Trevor's chest a few times. "Idiot! He's not part of the game!"

"Not part of what game?" Looking down at the floor, he found April's notebook sitting in front of his feet. He picked it up and shook his head disappointedly. "Seriously? You need to grow up. One of these days, you'll be thankful to have someone like April around."

"You're not interested in what she wrote about you?"

"I don't backstab my friends," he replied irritably, placing the red notebook inside of his lab coat pocket as he turned around and walked away. April was still in surgery with Dr. Martin and Swanson, so he was going to make sure nobody else got their hands on her notebook until she was finished.

But Jackson was slightly curious about what she did write about him. However, he promised her he wouldn't read it if he found it for her and he was going to keep his word. His hand rested comfortably against it inside of his pocket. The unknown was beginning to bother him, but he used all of his will power to prevent himself from pulling the notebook out of his pocket and reading it.

He already hurt her once. He refused to do it again.

* * *

April sat alone in the locker room after changing out of her scrubs. Her shift for the day ended and she was ready to go home, but she still hadn't found her red notebook. She figured it was lost forever or one of the other interns was fully entertained by what she wrote it in. The heart valve replacement was successful, but even that couldn't make her feel any better.

She finally pushed herself up from the bench and walked out of the locker room only to bump into Jackson. He seemed happy to see her, but she appeared the exact opposite.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. I meant to page you, but I got caught up with some other things." He pulled out her red notebook from his lab coat pocket and held it up with a grin on his face. "I found your notebook. It was… it was just sitting there on the floor. Nobody noticed it, I guess, despite the bright red color."

Instead of taking the notebook from him, she pounced on her friend and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she excitedly said. Suddenly, her bad mood skyrocketed into her usual perky self. "Oh my gosh, I owe you one, Jackson. I'll buy you a drink, okay?"

Jackson chuckled as he patted April's back. "It's no problem, really."

"What about tonight? Are you off now?"

"Yeah, but…" He peered over her shoulder to look at a blonde intern standing nearby. "I already made plans. Rain check?"

"Oh, sure. Y-yeah, that's fine," she replied, forcing herself to smile after she pulled away from him. April heard another woman calling out Jackson's name. It was the same blonde intern he was staring at and likely the one who greeted him that morning. "See you tomorrow then."

Jackson nodded as he handed back her notebook and entered the locker room. "Goodnight, April."

Stuffing her red notebook inside of her purse, she couldn't help but frown as she walked down the hallway. She felt embarrassed for actually trying to ask him out. Of course he already had plans with someone else. _How did I not see that coming?_ she asked herself in her mind.

Before heading to the closest elevator, she decided to stop by the ICU to check on Mr. Gutierrez. It turned out to be the right choice because nurses were running in and out of his hospital room. She could hear his machines beeping loudly, which signaled her to find out what was happening.

Inside of the patient's room was Reed. She was wearing a gown, while a nurse slipped gloves onto her hands. She appeared to be panicking, especially when she was handed a scalpel.

"What's going on?" April asked with wide eyes.

"Cardiac tamponade. Echocardiogram shows th-there's a blood clot," Reed answered, pointing at a screen of Mr. Gutierrez's heart. "I paged Martin and Swanson, but they haven't responded! The nurse is telling me to cut him open! I-I-I'm not prepared for this. I can't do it!"

"Martin and Swanson are in surgery right now," she replied, setting her purse down on a chair before she stood beside Reed. "You're gonna have to open his chest and get the clot out yourself. If you don't do it soon, he's gonna die!"

Reed quickly shook her head. "I have to crack his chest! This is the first time I'm doing this!" She stared at April worriedly. "What if I kill him?"

"You're _not_ going to kill him. Just take a deep breath and calm down. You can do this, Reed," she advised and turned around to look at one of the nurses. "Can you run to OR 2 and get either Martin or Swanson? Tell them what's happening. One of them will come here for sure."

Reed closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. She had watched videos on how to crack a chest, but she had never actually done it on a person before. "Okay, I'm going in," she announced before she cut the staples on Mr. Gutierrez's chest. After making an incision, a nurse assisted her with the clamps as she made her way towards the heart.

April watched her peer intently. She had never cracked a chest either, but based on the videos she watched, she seemed to be doing well. "I think you're fine," she assured her, checking their patient's vitals on the monitor. "His BP is dropping fast, so you need to speed it up a bit."

"I found the clot!" she exclaimed and began working on getting it out. Her head shot up when the vitals started flat lining. "Shit! I almost have it out."

"C'mon, Reed," the other brunette mumbled, nervously biting on her lower lip. She couldn't believe their patient was already having post-op complications. And they used a pig valve! So much for it being more reliable.

The blood clot was out, but nothing changed with Mr. Gutierrez's vitals. "Why isn't anything improving?"

"Try massaging his heart to get it moving again," April suggested. She watched Reed reach her hand inside of his chest and massage the heart. It eventually started pumping again and his vitals began rising, resulting in both interns letting out sighs of relief. "I think he's good."

Dr. Martin stormed inside to find his patient's chest open. "Can somebody explain to me what happened?" he demanded.

"Blood clot caused cardiac tamponade, sir," April answered, gesturing her hand towards Reed. "But Dr. Adamson got it out. She had everything under control. No problems whatsoever. His vitals appear stable again."

The cardio surgeon checked Reed's work, eying it closely. "Not the cleanest incision."

Reed sighed. "I-I'm sorry, Dr. Martin. It was my first one."

"But you saved his life. Nice job, Dr. Adamson," he congratulated her. "I will go ahead and take him down to the OR, make sure everything is fine. Care to join me?"

"Oh, yes. Of course," she replied, quickly nodding her head as she watched April leave the room. "Just give me a minute, please. I'll be right there."

April was on her way to an elevator when she heard Reed calling out her name. She turned around to see her fellow intern running after her in her bloody gown and gloves. "Yes?"

"Thank you. You saved my ass," she acknowledged with a smile on her face. "I was literally freaking out until you came in to help."

"All I did was tell you to calm down," she insisted, shrugging her shoulders. "You did most of the work."

"But I also want to apologize to you. You dropped your notebook earlier and I took it," Reed admitted, eliciting a scowl from April. She slightly grimaced and sighed. "I read it, some of it out loud to Charles and Trevor. Jackson caught us and got it back for you. I don't know what he told you, but that's the truth. I'm really sorry – for everything. I was a bitch to you since we met. You're not that bad, April. I should've given you a chance before I made judgments about you."

April slightly smiled at Reed. "It's fine, whatever. You don't have to like me, but I'd appreciate it if we could work together without the backstabbing."

"We can do that, but I do want to try to be friends," she offered. "I… I'd shake your hand, but I've got someone else's blood on me and I doubt you want to touch it."

"Yeah, no," she chuckled. "But being friends would be nice. I know I could use some more of them. Jackson's the only friend I have and I can't exactly tell him everything that's on my mind."

"You really like him, huh?"

April nodded her head before she softly laughed. "It doesn't matter, though. He doesn't see me in that way, but it's not like I expected him to," she pessimistically said.

"Give it some time," Reed assured her. "He'll notice you when you least suspect it. Anyway, I better go before Dr. Martin takes back the compliments he gave me. Umm, how about we meet up at Schmo's for a drink sometime? Maybe tomorrow?"

"That would be awesome," she chirped, grinning at her former arch nemesis.

"Sweet. I'll see you tomorrow then," Reed replied and quickly waved at April as she walked away. "Later, April. Thanks again!"

"You're welcome. Bye."

April walked into an elevator with a smile on her face. Despite feeling disappointed about seeing Jackson with another woman, she was thankful to finally land on Reed's good side. Save someone's ass, make a friend. It was a relief to know she had a positive effect on people.

* * *

**Someone asked if I was writing a follow up to B&H and I don't know yet. I never intended to make a sequel to it, so maybe not. But if you're missing Jordan cuteness, then you can read my AK2 fic. Although, it's under some sad circumstances. At least give it a shot! ;)**


	5. It's Not Broken

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm actually glad there's a hiatus from Grey's because lack of new episodes is good for my writing mojo.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Becoming friends with Reed wasn't as difficult as April thought it would be. Once she broke through Reed's bitchy side, she turned out to be sweet and caring. They had grown close enough to become roommates. April moved out of her studio apartment to live with her new roommate. Just like Reed had suspected, a chore wheel was introduced, but she didn't mind it since she preferred a clean home – although she wasn't nearly as anal as the perky intern.

And April was thankful to have a friend like Reed because her friendship with Jackson became awkward when he started dating Rachel Lawson, the blonde intern she loathed since that day he blew off drinks with her. They had been together for almost a month, which killed her hopes of ever being noticed romantically by the pretty boy.

While they continued to hang out together, his girlfriend was _always_ around. She clung onto him like a leech. It annoyed both April and Reed greatly. Rachel tried to blend in with their group by sitting with them during lunch and joining them at their secret hideout on the roof. And their constant makeout sessions when they were on the roof only irritated them even more. Charles and Trevor had also grown sick of their relationship, mainly because neither of them were getting laid like Jackson was.

So to help April move on from her crush, Reed signed her up for an online dating service, to her dismay. She believed online dating was for people who could never find a date in person. Already considering herself a loser, this only made her feel like a bigger one. But she thought she might as well give it a shot. Maybe there _was_ someone out there for her.

Another idea Reed had in mind was to upgrade April's appearance by giving her a quick makeover. Both of them were continuously being confused for each other because their hairstyles and hair color were similar. One of them had to make a change.

"Are you sure this color will look good on me?" April asked skeptically as her roommate colored her hair in their bathroom. "I… I don't know if the one you chose will work. Seriously, _red_?"

"Don't worry. I promise it'll be the right color for you," Reed assured her. "And it's not red _red_. You won't look like Ronald McDonald, if that's what you're worried about. Hopefully after today, the nurses will stop mixing us up."

"I've never colored my hair before. Actually, I've never done anything drastic with my hair before," she admitted and chuckled. "My sister Kimmie dyed her hair purple once for a play. My parents were livid."

"So, Kimmie was the rebellious one?"

"No. Libby was, but since Kimmie idolized her I suppose she had a rebellious side too," April explained. "My youngest sister Alice isn't as rebellious, but she definitely likes me more than those two. I hate to say this, but Libby and Kimmie are bitches. I blame Libby for always treating me like crap. Kimmie decided to team up with her."

Reed snickered. "Based on what you've told me about your family so far, I really want to meet them."

"Oh! Alice will be visiting in two weeks. She's on UCLA's women's soccer team. They're playing at U-Dub, so I'm planning on watching her. You can come with me if you want," she suggested. "Of the three sisters, she's the one you want to meet."

"Sounds fun. Maybe you should invite Jackson too."

April groaned. "No way. He'll bring his stupid plastic girlfriend along," she bitterly replied. "I think her boobs are fake."

Reed nodded in agreement. "Definitely fake. Guys always go for the fake body parts." She finished coloring April's hair, then she helped her stand up. "Okay, we'll let that sit for a while. Why don't we check and see if you received any matches on eHarmony?"

"How about we don't?" she sheepishly asked. "I'm not sure what's more embarrassing – actually being matched up with people who might not even be my type or not getting any matches at all."

"Do you want to be alone for the rest of your life?" Reed asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Quit hiding in your turtle shell and let's have a look. I'm not sure why you think you're not compatible with anybody. You're way prettier than Rachel."

"You're just saying that because I'm your roommate," April insisted as she followed Reed into the living room.

"No. I'm saying that because it's _true_." Reed sighed and shook her head. As much as she adored April now, her roommate's insecure comments quickly became one of her pet peeves. She picked up her laptop from the coffee table and sat down on the couch. "Let's log you in."

April leaned against the back of the couch to avoid staining it with her hair dye. To her surprise, there were men matched up with her. "Wow, 22 guys? Not bad considering you signed me up last night." She immediately raised her eyebrow. "Wait. What did you put in my profile?"

She wasn't home from work yet when Reed decided to sign her up for the online dating website. Her roommate could have misled her matches by typing in lies about herself.

"Oh, nothing. Just a few white lies," she answered, trying not to laugh.

Unable to trust Reed, April grabbed the laptop from her to check her information. She gasped in horror when she skimmed through her profile. "I'm not an underwear model nor am I 5'8"!" she exclaimed. "Why would you put that?"

Reed shrugged her shoulders. "It sounded better than farm girl," she replied nonchalantly, taking her laptop back. She pointed at one of her matches. "Look at this guy. He's 6'4", athletic and an underwear model as well."

"Except I'm _not_ an underwear model," she sternly responded, shooting a glare at Reed. "I don't want any false matches. They'll know I'm lying and honestly, I don't have the body of an underwear model at all."

"Whatever. At least you're not plastic like Rachel," her roommate scoffed. After skimming through other matches, she pointed at another one. "Ah, here's a definite liar. George O'Malley, a 6'3" neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace Hospital. Ha! I'm not sure which is the bigger lie – the height or the occupation. Oh, and he has a note in his bio. Says he recently got over syphilis, but he promises he's not a manwhore."

April shuddered in disgust. "Syphilis? I'll pass." She gestured her hand towards the laptop. "Can we just drop the online dating thing? I don't want to do that crap, Reed. If I'm going to meet someone, I want it to happen by chance like it's fate."

Reed closed her laptop and set it aside. "Oh, fine. I'm sorry." She turned around on the couch to face April. "Why don't you try going out with Trevor? He may not be as hot as Jackson, but he's not a bad guy either… when he's not hitting on every woman in sight."

April slightly grimaced. "There's something off about Trevor," she implied. "I don't want to date him. Gosh, why does Jackson have to be so damn attractive? And why does he have to be with freaking Rachel Lawson? She's using him because he comes from a wealthy family... and he's incredibly gorgeous. Her boobs are blinding him from her true colors."

"Why don't you tell him that?"

"Yeah, like he'll believe me," she muttered. "He's so head over heels about Rachel that he'd take her word over mine. And I'm the real friend! That's how much he likes her."

Reed waved her arms. "Just forget about him, April. The more you talk about him, the more you'll upset yourself," she advised. "Anyway, maybe you'll meet an even hotter man at the Sonics game tonight."

"Right, and he'll ask me to marry him from the minute he lays eyes on me," April sarcastically replied, adding an eye roll. She hated thinking about Jackson. Whenever she tried to stop thinking about him, it only made her think about him more. And she expected to feel worse since he was going to be at the basketball game too – with Rachel.

* * *

Waiting outside of KeyArena for the group to arrive, Jackson stood alone with his hands inside of his jacket pockets. He came directly from the hospital, so his roommates were supposed to meet him at the game. Rachel opted to bail on him at the last minute because she lacked interest in basketball, to his disappointment. She wasn't much of a sports fan to begin with, but she made up for it in bed, which he didn't mind. He felt better about living in Seattle. Steady job, a sexy girlfriend, good friends and his family couldn't badger him 24/7 about his career and life choices.

Moving to Seattle was the best decision he had made thus far.

He checked his watch, a little annoyed that the other four interns were running late. The basketball fanatic in him always hated being late for games. Plus, his beloved Boston Celtics were in town. There were Seattle Sonics fans who already gave him crap for wearing Celtics attire as they passed by. He didn't care, though. If he ever decided to get a tattoo, it would say "Celtics For Life".

Finally, the foursome arrived. Charles and Trevor approached Jackson, while Reed and April trailed behind.

"Sorry, man. We hit some shitty traffic on the way here," Charles guiltily said, then he pointed back at the two women. "And somebody was taking a bit too long to get ready."

Reed dismissively waved her hand. "You're a guy. You don't understand women, Charlie," she scoffed. Grabbing April's shoulders, she forcefully pushed her towards Jackson. "Hey, what do you think about April's new hair color? Doesn't it pop?"

Jackson took a quick glimpse of the former brunette's hair. It was a light red color that somewhat looked brown in dim light. Reed had touched up April's hair, slightly curling it so it wasn't flat and straight like it normally was. She wanted her roommate to stand out.

"It looks nice," he said, though clearly distracted by their tardiness. "Can we go inside now? The game started five minutes ago."

April's face dropped after Jackson turned away. She felt defeated because his reaction showed that he hardly cared. Also, Rachel's absence ruined the purpose of possibly making her jealous. All of the effort to make him notice her was meaningless.

Reed linked her elbow with April's. "Don't mind him. The arena has better lighting inside. Maybe he'll be more aware of your hair when we're all seated," she reassured her. "In fact, you should sit next to him since his bimbo girlfriend isn't here."

"Or he really doesn't care," she glumly replied.

"The night's not over yet. Give him some time before you throw in the towel."

Following Jackson into the arena, they quickly found their seats located fifteen rows up from behind the visitors' bench. He was already watching the basketball game attentively before he even sat down. When it came to sporting events he hardly ever wanted to be bothered, so he had no idea April was sitting beside him.

"Decent seats huh, Charles?" he asked, briefly turning his head to look at his roommate. Instead, he saw April staring at him confused. "Oh, I thought you were Percy. Umm… are you into basketball?"

"Sort of. I've been to one Cavs game when I lived in Ohio, but that was ages ago," April answered, fidgeting with her ticket stub in her hands. She wasn't the biggest sports fanatic, though she had watched a lot of soccer because of her youngest sister. Her father was a major Ohio State Buckeyes fan, so she grew up with college football on her TV screen at home. "Umm… where's uhh, your girlfriend?"

"Rachel flaked," he bitterly said. "Wanted to go out with some friends instead."

"But you see her every day, so it's not that big of a deal, right?" she asked, feeling a little hopeful.

Jackson slowly shrugged. "Well, if she came tonight, it would've been a date that I chose. We usually do whatever she wants. I don't consider myself a pushover, but I like to keep my girlfriends happy."

"No offense, but always doing what she wants _does_ make you a pushover," April murmured. She was surprised he let Rachel control him. Her initial impression of him definitely wasn't the pushover type. It was probably the disgustingly hot sex he was having with her.

"I really like her," he replied imperturbably.

"Why?"

"What do you mean by that?" Before he let her explain herself, his focus returned to the game. "Oh, what a bullshit call!"

April cringed in her seat. Jackson was a yelling spectator. Those types were obnoxious. Having a decent conversation with him was going to be difficult because he would be too busy screaming at the referees for every call they made against his hometown team. And he still hadn't fully noticed her new hair color. She had never tried so hard to get a man – an _unavailable_ man at that – to notice her, yet her attempts were all fails since she arrived at the arena.

She decided to stop trying before she embarrassed herself.

* * *

Three quarters into the game, April was bored out of her mind. Boston was leading by almost thirty points, but Jackson continued to shout at the referees. It had gotten annoying before the first quarter ended. Her elbow was sitting on the arm rest as she slowly dozed off against her hand. The sudden crowd noise woke her up, forcing her to sit up in her seat. There were t-shirts being thrown into the stands during a timeout.

Charles noticed one t-shirt was heading their way and shot up in his seat, elbowing April's nose in the process. She screamed in pain as she immediately grabbed her nose with her hands.

"Charlie, you moron!" Reed angrily scolded him as she pushed her way towards April's seat. Blood crept through the spaces in between her fingers. Slowly removing her roommate's hands away from her face, she gasped as how much blood dripped out of her nostrils. "Oh my God!"

Jackson's eyes widened as he stared at his bloody friend. "I think you broke her nose, Charles."

"Can we get a doctor over here?" Charles shouted and winced when Reed slapped his abdomen with the back of her hand. "Oww! What?"

"Forget it," she groaned before she helped April stand up. "We gotta take her to the hospital."

"I'll come with you," Jackson offered.

Reed shot a glare back at Jackson. "No, you can stay. She doesn't need your help," she insisted, escorting April up the stairs. She rolled her eyes when some bystanders laughed at her blood covered roommate. "Just pretend nobody's here."

"I can't show my face here ever again," the tearful redhead said. Not only did she feel humiliated in front of Jackson and random strangers but she was in a large amount of pain. She was certain Charles shattered her nose with his gigantic elbow. "My nose is broken!"

"It's not broken," Reed tried to assure her, drawing an unconvinced look from April. "Okay, it _may_ be broken, but let's wait until we have it checked out at the hospital."

"Look at me, Reed! I seriously look like a patient who's bleeding out on the operating table!" Because the blood continued to freely flow out of her nose, she forced herself to pinch it shut, despite how painful it was. "This is by far the worst night of my life."

* * *

"Oh. My. _God_." April stared at her nose using a mirror. Sitting on one of the beds inside of Mercy West's emergency room, she couldn't keep her eyes away from her crooked nose. The bleeding had eventually stopped after she was given an ice pack, though she was still in pain. She couldn't breathe at all through her nose and she was sporting raccoon eyes.

Definitely broken.

Reed grimaced and forced herself to grin. "It doesn't look that bad," she lied. Her roommate scowled at her in response. "I'm just trying to stay as optimistic as possible for you. I don't know what else to say."

"Just don't say anything, okay? I've been humiliated enough tonight as it is," April replied with a frown on her face. Setting the mirror beside her, she lightly touched the tip of her nose and instantly felt pain. "I know I shouldn't be diagnosing myself, but I'm 99% sure I have multiple nasal fractures and a deviated septum."

"I have a feeling you're probably right," she agreed.

Charles entered the ER with Jackson and Trevor following him from behind. He stood beside April's bed with a panicked expression on his face. "April, I am so, so sorry about what happened," he apologized, holding up the free t-shirt he caught at the game. "You can have this to make up for it."

"Really?" April answered irritably. She grabbed the t-shirt from Charles and began hitting him with it. "A t-shirt isn't going to make up for a broken nose, Percy! You _broke_ my nose!"

"Leave her alone," Reed said, pulling him away from her roommate's bedside. "Just go home. We'll let you know how much you have to pay when her medical bill arrives in the mail. She might need surgery too because of you."

Jackson sat on the edge of April's bed and smiled at her. "The red hair suits you. I really like it," he admitted, though his compliment only made her break down and cry. His friend covered her face with her hands, while he shifted uncomfortably. "Umm… did I say something wrong?"

Reed groaned in frustration. "You too?" She forced him onto his feet and pushed him towards Charles. "Like I said, go home. She doesn't need you three giving her the pity treatment right now."

"What pity treatment? I'm not pitying her," he argued.

She brought him outside where they could talk privately. "Listen, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but as her roommate and friend, I've gotta look out for her. April… she likes you and I mean, _really_ likes you," the brunette confessed. "And she's been wanting you to notice her. Just not like this."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I have a girlfriend."

Reed smirked at him. "Is it that hard of a choice? Which would you rather have – the woman who means well and actually cares about you or the woman who's simply after your family name?"

Jackson glared at her. "That's a crappy thing to say about Rachel. It's a no-brainer that you hate her, but c'mon. You barely know her, so quit judging her like you used to judge April."

"Give me a break, Jackson. Her boobs are fake. I think her nose might be fake too. She's fake all over the place!" She poked his chest with her finger. "She's got you wrapped around her fake little finger. And I thought you Avery's were supposed to be smart."

"If you were a dude, I wouldn't hesitate to knock you out right now," he retorted.

"Why? Because I'm right?" she teased.

While Jackson and Reed continued to bicker outside, April waited alone in the ER. It felt like she had been waiting for help for hours even though it had really only been a half an hour. Tears trickled down her face as she felt sorry for herself.

"Hey, did Dr. Thurman stop by yet?" a male nurse asked her.

"Huh?" April looked up at the nurse. "Oh, no. Not yet. I'm still waiting… and feeling like a total loser."

The nurse smiled. "April, right? Or should I call you Dr. Kepner even though you're not on-call at the moment?"

"April's fine," she muttered. "Dr. My Nose Is BroKepner's okay with me too."

He chuckled, taking a seat on a stool beside her bed. "I'm Zach Jacobs. You can call me Zach or Nurse Zach or Mr. Jacobs. Whatever you prefer," he introduced himself. Taking a closer look at her crooked nose, he grimaced. "You're probably aware of this, but your nose looks awful."

"Thank you!" she replied, letting out a sigh of relief. "At least you're being honest with me instead of sugar coating everything with stupid compliments. My nose is distorted like somebody grabbed it and twisted it around just for the hell of it."

"But you know what? Thurman's an awesome ENT. If you need surgery, he'll fix your nose and make it look as good as new," Zach assured her. "So, when everything's fine and you're no longer embarrassed about your nose want to go out sometime?"

April quickly raised both of her eyebrows, taken aback by the nurse's assertiveness. "What?"

Zach grinned, appearing unfazed by her reaction. "I've seen you around. Sometimes I work on the surgical floor, so I occasionally see you following around Dr. Swanson. I know you're an intern and-"

"You're stalking me?" she nervously asked.

"No, no. I'm not a stalker. More like an observer," he insisted and laughed. "So how about it? You and me, dinner?"

Zach seemed to be a nice man, despite the creepy tribal tattoo covering half of his left forearm that somewhat turned her off. His brown hair was neatly combed to the side. He had a lovely smile. Maybe not as gorgeous as Jackson's, but he had a way of working his own charm. The problem was April only knew of his existence a minute ago.

"I-I barely know you," she stammered, biting down on her lower lip. "We just met."

"Well, we can use the time it takes for you to recover to get to know each other better," he suggested. "First thing on the list, how did you break your nose?"

April rolled her eyes. "My idiotic friend became overly excited about catching a free t-shirt at the Sonics game." She pointed at her broken nose. "Got me perfectly square in the face."

"It's not the nose that attracted me to you anyway," he admitted, making her shyly smile. "You also look much better when you're not crying."

"Oh, geez," she groaned, shaking her head in embarrassment. "I uhh… it's nothing. Trying to get over someone, but it's hard to do that when I see him at work every day… with another woman."

"Ah, I've been there. Is the guy worth crying over?"

"Yes- I don't know. He's my friend and I'm so out of his league," she said, sadly smiling at Zach. "But for once, I just wish the dopey girl could get that handsome guy who everybody wants. Instead of the popular girl always winning everything, it's the nerd who killed the competition at science fairs that prevails and wins the heart of the perfect guy."

She pointed at her hair. "My roommate thought coloring my hair would help him notice me. Well, that and so the other nurses would stop confusing us for each other. It didn't really work. He finally complimented my hair, but I know he only did it because my face looks like crap," she complained. "The first time he saw it, he couldn't care less. Plus, he has a girlfriend, who's not a very nice person when he's not around-"

"This guy's a douche. Am I right?" he interrupted her.

April hardly considered Jackson to be a douche. He had always been kind to her and the most loyal friend out of everyone in their intern group. He got her red notebook back for her after Reed found it – though they still hadn't fulfilled that rain check for drinks he promised because Rachel freaking Lawson happened to him.

"Okay, he's a douche," she chirped, sharing a laugh with him. "But he's a nice douche."

Zach raised his eyebrow at April. "How can a douche be nice and still be a douche?"

"I don't know," she giggled, throwing her hands up and shrugging. "I honestly don't know what I'm talking about anymore."

"You don't need him," he advised. "I have no idea who you're talking about, but from the sounds of it, you really don't need him. You deserve somebody who _does_ notice you. For example, me."

April playfully rolled her eyes. "And I bet you won't stop with the flattering comments until I agree to go out with you."

Zach pointed at himself. "Considering we sort of work together, you can't avoid me," he arrogantly said. "And I don't mean to brag, but I can play the guitar _and_ the drums. So, you can also call me Nurse Rock Star if you want. Can this friend of yours play any instruments?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but he has really nice abs."

"I have nice abs," he gloated, lifting up his gray scrub top to reveal his chiseled abs.

"You're being unprofessional," she pointed out, though her eyes were glued to his good-looking body. It amazed her how comfortable she was talking to Zach. With Jackson, she sometimes still fumbled with her words when they spoke to each other. That wasn't the case with Nurse Rock Star. Perhaps it was because he didn't have the hypnotic bluish-green eyes like her friend or a smile that made her legs grow weak. But he was polite and clearly interested in her. He was the bright spot in her very ugly day. "Put those away before somebody thinks you're sexually harassing me."

Jackson returned to the ER after ending his argument with Reed. Technically, it never ended. He just decided to walk away when he grew tired of listening to her voice. He wanted to check on April since he realized they all quickly ditched her, but he found her laughing and smiling with the male nurse.

From his perspective, Zach was clearly flirting with his friend – and he didn't like one bit of it. He had worked with the nurse before and he came off as arrogant and a little sleazy. Or maybe he wanted to believe this tattooed nurse wasn't good enough for April. The protective side of him thought she deserved better, especially after Reed told him how her roommate felt about him. Knowing she had feelings for him forced him to look at her differently.

But he didn't want to interrupt her conversation with Nurse Sleazy. So he chose to turn around and walk away – though not without giving them a second glance before he left the ER.

* * *

**Let me know what you think please! :)**


	6. Nurse Rock Star

**Thanks for the reviews! Since we don't have Grey's today here's an update for you. Because someone asked me to give Zach a face, think Dell from Private Practice but with a tattoo lol. Sarah's character on PP and Dell would've been cute together, don't you think? :P**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Like April had suspected, her shattered nose required surgery. A septoplasty to fix her deviated septum and a rhinoplasty to realign her nasal bones and reconstruct her nose. While Dr. Thurman couldn't guarantee her nose would look exactly as it originally did prior to the surgery, he gave her the choice of keeping the same nose shape or choosing a new one. She never had a problem with her nose in the past. She actually loved it, so instead, she began worrying about her appearance changing. There were stories of celebrities looking completely different following a nose job. A brand new nose could change everything about her face. Her surgically repaired nose could either make her irresistible or flat out miserable.

But she wouldn't know for sure for at least two or three weeks. After the procedures, she went home to rest for two days before she returned to work the following day. A broken nose wasn't going to prevent her from watching surgeries from the gallery. Despite hating how extra nasally her high-pitched voice sounded because she couldn't breathe through her nose yet, she reminded herself that she was there to learn, not obsess over what people thought of her once her new nose was revealed.

Plus, she wanted to know more about Zach – Nurse Rock Star, as Reed decided to call him after her roommate told her about the nurse she bonded with in the ER. The nickname he suggested stuck, so Nurse Rock Star was his unofficial name. They hadn't spoken since that day in the pit, though he managed to switch his shifts to the surgical floor when she was back in her orange scrubs.

Sporting a white nasal splint over her nose and dark purple bruises under her eyes, she was initially anxious about how her coworkers would react to her banged up face. There were stares, which she expected, but it still made her feel insecure about herself. Some interns complimented her new hair color, though, so she was able to stand out more than before.

The one person she hadn't seen or talked to since that night was Jackson. Not because she didn't want to. _He_ had difficulty speaking to her after Reed blurted out to him about April's feelings for him. They were always just friends to him, but now that he knew she wanted more than that, he began to have second thoughts about his current relationship with Rachel. Despite how annoyed he was with Reed, she had a point. His girlfriend hardly cared for anything he wanted to do unless it involved sex. She mostly thought about herself first. And April also made a point in that he was a pushover – or a pussy, as Charles called him. He rolled over for Rachel like a lap dog.

And if they were right about her using him for his name, he would feel like a complete idiot because he loathed anybody who kissed his ass for being an Avery. Maybe Rachel _was_ too good to be true. She was rude to Charles and Trevor when she visited their apartment and she gossiped about every other female intern in their class. Her politeness when they were around a large group of people was fake. The process of breaking up with her was going to be slow. He didn't want her to suspect anything.

He walked down the hallway searching for April. It was his turn to buy them coffee, a routine they started when they officially became friends. Every other day, one would buy coffee for the both of them from the main lobby. In his right hand was his cappuccino. In his left hand was her soy vanilla latte. He wasn't quite sure yet what his feelings were towards his friend, but he didn't want things to be awkward between them.

Jackson spotted the redhead standing by the nurses' station. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed she already had a cup of coffee in her hand. Across from her was Zach, who had his own cup. They were having another friendly chat from his point of view. She was laughing and smiling as he spoke to her. He couldn't hear their conversation, but she appeared genuinely entertained.

"Oh, coffee for me?" Reed asked after sneaking up on him. She chuckled when he moved his hand away before she could grab it. "Don't be greedy, Avery."

"What's up with April and that nurse?" he asked curiously while he continued to watch them.

"Nurse Rock Star?" She grinned at him when he finally looked back at her. "That's what we call him because he can play the guitar and the drums. April told me he used to be in a band in college. He's cute, huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "He's a dick. We worked together once and he kept bossing me around like he owns me just because he's been working here for two years," he complained. "He was nitpicking how I started a central line."

"Maybe your central line was crap," she suggested with a smirk. "I met him earlier this morning. He's really sweet, so I don't know what you're talking about. Honestly, I never saw her as the kind of woman who went for guys with tattoos, but April seems interested."

"Does she know that you told me about her feelings for me?"

"God, no. If I did, she would probably never go near you or speak to me ever again," Reed answered as her eyes glanced over to April. "She'd be too embarrassed to act normal around you, so it's best if she doesn't know. Besides, you have a girlfriend. Why the hell do you care?"

"I don't," he muttered. "But I was her friend first and I bought her freakin' coffee. We always buy each other coffee. Instead, she let _him_ buy her coffee and she barely knows him."

Reed cackled in amusement. "You are jealous," she teased, almost singing the words.

Jackson scowled at her. "Shut up. I'm not," he retorted. Looking back at April, he rolled his eyes as Zach made her laugh again with his air guitar performance. "What a loser."

"Uh huh," she said, patting his shoulder before she walked away. "Keep telling yourself that."

He was caught up in watching the two interact like a creeper that he hadn't noticed Rachel approaching him. She grabbed what should have been April's coffee up. "You read my mind," she gleefully said before she took a sip, though she immediately grimaced afterwards. "Eww, what is this crap?"

"What?" Jackson quickly turned his attention towards her and realized she was drinking April's coffee. "Oh, it's a soy vanilla latte."

"It's disgusting, babe. You know I drink caffè mochas," Rachel scolded him. "Why'd you buy this instead?"

The pretty boy snatched the cup away from her. "It wasn't for you," he sternly replied, then he turned around and walked down the direction he came from, ignoring his girlfriend's complaints.

Meanwhile, April playfully applauded Zach's air guitar concert. "Wow, that was really, really good," she sarcastically complimented him.

"It's a lot harder than you might think," he insisted before drinking his coffee. Zach pointed at April's bandaged nose and smiled. "So, when will I get to see you without that in the middle of your face?"

"Oh, umm… end of the week? Dr. Thurman says it should look much better by then, though there still might be some swelling," she shyly said, then she gazed down at her coffee cup. "But uhh, the bruising under my eyes might fade away. I'll still look pretty crappy even with the splint gone."

Zach shook his head. "You don't look crappy at all. Well, I don't think you do," he assured her.

April softly laughed. "Thank you." She pointed at the tattoo on his inner left forearm. "Does your tattoo have any significant meaning?"

"Nah. I just thought it looked cool. Actually, I had this done with my bandmates when I was studying at Gonzaga. Thought we'd look more badass with tattoos because we were a rock band. I used to have a bunch of piercings, but I ditched them when I became a nurse," he recalled. "I don't regret getting this. I mean, it won over a lot of women. What's your opinion of tattoos?"

"To be honest, they're not my favorite accessory on a person's body. I myself would never get a tattoo," she admitted, then she smiled at him. "But what's on the outside doesn't reflect how a person is on the inside."

"So you're not turned off by it? I kind of noticed you staring at it a lot when we were chatting in the ER."

"I was a little, but… I think it looks neat now." April heard her pager beeping and briefly checked it. "Swanson. I better go. Thanks for the coffee, Zach. I appreciate it."

Zach gently grabbed April's forearm as she turned away. "Hold on a second," he politely asked. "Umm… Friday night, me and this friend in Radiology are performing an acoustic set at Schmo's. I was wondering if you wanted to come watch. We'll start around nine. You can bring along friends if you want."

April happily nodded. "I'll see if I'm working late that day, but I'll try to make it if I'm not," she accepted his invitation and shyly bit down on her lower lip. It sounded like a date, but not really. Either way, she didn't have any plans to begin with so why not support her new friend?

He grinned. "Awesome. We could have a drink after that… or whatever," he suggested. "We'll already be inside of a bar, so we might as well take advantage of the opportunity."

"Yeah… that sounds good." She pointed over her shoulder as she walked backwards. "I should get moving before Swanson dumps scut on me for being late. I'll see you around!"

A man was showing interest in her and she couldn't help but grin widely when she was no longer in his view. During the time she spent with him, she hadn't thought about Jackson at all. She wasn't ashamed by it, but she did miss hanging out with her friend. The perky intern had been waiting for him to arrive with her soy vanilla latte except Zach showed up first. He didn't buy her daily soy vanilla latte, but she appreciated the gesture. She thought it was sweet of him to buy her coffee without asking. Little acts of kindness like that were worth taking note of.

* * *

Jackson arrived at the rooftop for lunch. The other four interns in his group were already there eating and having a conversation about the new nurse in April's life. Of all of the topics they could discuss, they were talking about _him_? He couldn't understand what was so fabulous about Zach. Couldn't they talk about something interesting like surgeries?

"Hey," he casually greeted them as he sat beside April. "What are you guys talking about?"

Reed slyly grinned at Jackson. "Oh, we were just talking about Nurse Rock Star." She noticed him slightly cringe, which only made her even more excited to get under his skin. "He asked April out earlier."

April shook her head and laughed. "Zach didn't ask me out. He _invited_ me to watch him perform at Schmo's on Friday night. Actually, he told me to invite whoever I want, so you're all welcome to join me." She looked at Jackson. "Umm, you can bring Rachel."

Jackson shrugged his shoulders as he picked up his sandwich. "Maybe. She'll probably want to do something that isn't boring." His eyes gazed up at his coworker, who appeared offended by his words. "I mean, _she_ would find it boring. I… I wasn't talking about myself."

"You don't have to come if you really don't want to," she bitterly replied. "We all know you and Rachel can't keep your hands off of each other whenever you're together."

"No, I'll be there," he insisted. "You still owe me drinks for finding your notebook, remember?"

"What the hell, Jackson?" Reed smirked at him. "You can't make her buy you drinks when she's there on a sort of date with another guy."

"It's _not_ a date," April bashfully said, then she raised her eyebrow at her roommate. "_Can_ it be a date?"

Reed nodded eagerly. "If he stares at you the whole time he's performing, it's definitely a date. Maybe buy you a drink or two, then he can bring you home afterwards or take you to his place where you two will-"

"Oh, gosh!" she panicked. "I-I just met him. No way I'd be doing… _that_."

"Why? Are you a virgin?" Charles teased.

"No! I'm not a virgin," April retorted. "I'm just not comfortable talking about my sex life, especially with _you_, Charles. Knowing you, you'll find a way to twist things around and make it sound dirty."

Jackson decided to change the subject and cleared his throat to catch her attention. "I bought your coffee this morning," he intervened. "But uhh… you seemed to already have it taken care of."

"I'm sorry. I was waiting for you to show up, but Zach got to me first with his own cups of coffee. I didn't want to be rude and reject his," she guiltily replied. "How about I buy for the next two days to make up for it?"

"Sure. No problem," he muttered, forcing himself to smile.

Their friendship obviously took an awkward turn since the basketball game. Jackson started overanalyzing his relationship with April and trying to figure out everything she was thinking inside of her head. Throw in Nurse Rock Star and he wondered if she was truly interested in him or she was using Zach to spite him. Add in his own girlfriend and he realized he missed having long conversations with April. They used to share stories from their past and laugh about embarrassing moments. Lately, their chats were short and casual.

But April was the type of girl he used to make fun of in high school. Way more immature as a teenager, he and his jock friends once stole a nerdy girl's science project and hid it the day they were to be judged and awarded. He didn't understand how important it was to her then, but in retrospect, he was a huge asshole. And when he listened to April's stories about how she won every science fair she entered he was impressed. She wasn't athletic or the prom queen, but she made up for it with her brain. Being smart could be sexy too.

"Did he buy you a soy vanilla latte?" he asked.

April shook her head. "Nope. Just some plain coffee with sugar, but it was really nice of him to buy it for me without even asking," she answered, smiling down at her salad. "It's not often a guy goes out of his way to do something as little as buying coffee for me for no reason at all."

"What about the many times _I_ bought you coffee?"

"That's different. You're my friend. It's a thing we've been doing for the past two months," she noted. "I expect it from you. Zach literally came out of nowhere and is apparently attracted to me. I can't believe somebody finds me attractive."

Reed groaned. "Oh, here we go again," she whined. "You're not ugly, April. Even with a fucked up nose, you weren't ugly! But you know what's unattractive about you? Your low self-esteem. Stop putting yourself down. You're going to push a lot of potential husbands away with that attitude of yours."

"I'm not used to being noticed, okay?" April threw her arms up in frustration. "I was a freaking wallflower in high school. An-and I was a geek with glasses. I dressed like a geek! Now you're making me worry about what to wear on Friday!"

"Way to go, Reed. You turned on her neurotic switch," Charles quipped.

Trevor stretched his arms in front of him as he cracked his knuckles. "A little sex will calm her down." He stumbled back after Jackson threw a small tomato at him.

Various pagers went off, forcing everybody to check if it was theirs. Reed and Charles stood up, followed by Trevor. The threesome quickly said their goodbyes before leaving Jackson and April alone on the roof. Perfect opportunity to talk like they used to.

"Just remember to be yourself," Jackson advised.

"But what if he becomes bored of me?" April asked worriedly. "He did all these cool things like being a member of a rock band and getting a tattoo. I'm not as interesting as him. Eventually, I'll run out of things to tell him about myself and what if… what if he realizes I'm not worth the time?"

"Then he's an idiot," he assured her, playfully nudging her with his elbow. "You're worth the time."

April smirked at him. "You're supposed to tell me that as my friend."

"No, I'm telling you that because it's true. Reed's right and I've told you this before – stop putting yourself down." Jackson smiled at her without forcing it this time. "You're smart, funny, thoughtful, dependable and… you're beautiful."

She could feel her cheeks growing warm after hearing his last compliment. "Even with this stupid splint on my nose?" she softly said.

"It's just a splint, April," he said and chuckled. "That Zach guy clearly doesn't care about it."

"I guess you're right. I know I worry too much, but I'm not good at this – being a girlfriend or whatever," she admitted, avoiding eye contact with Jackson. "Want to know something sad? I've only had maybe two real boyfriends and neither of them lasted for at least six months."

"No chemistry?"

April slowly shrugged her shoulders with a frown on her face. "Found someone better. Someone who wasn't neurotic or slightly obsessive compulsive…" She sighed. "I don't know why it's so difficult for me. All of my sisters had no problem fitting in and finding boyfriends. Libby's been married to her college sweetheart since she graduated. Kimmie's been with her boyfriend since her freshman year at Ohio State. I'm not sure what's going on with Alice, but I won't be surprised if she has a man herself. Me? Most guys just find me annoying, so I consider myself lucky whenever one can be around me for more than a week."

Jackson pointed at himself. "I'm still around," he replied, trying to cheer her up. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Like I said before, you're different because we're friends. Probably good friends at this point. I'm talking about finding my future husband, which is a lot harder than I anticipated," she sheepishly said. "Who knows? Maybe Zach will be the one. I know I just met him and perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, but… I think I'm starting to like him. He's really nice and he's super funny-"

"And a douche," he mumbled. Jackson forced a laugh when she stared at him with a puzzled expression on her face. "I said he's a damn fine nurse. I uhh, I've worked with him. He's pretty chill… smooth… smoother than Trevor."

"Do you have the hots for Nurse Rock Star too?" she teased.

Jackson rolled his eyes and shared a laugh with her. "I set myself up for that one, dammit." Their conversation was interrupted by Rachel, who approached them with a grin on her face.

"There you are, babe," she greeted him and ignored April's presence. Rachel sat beside Jackson and gave him a long kiss on the lips as if she was gloating about the fact that she was his girlfriend.

April gathered her belongings, quickly standing up to avoid being blinded by the couple's lip action. "See you later, Jackson," she said before rushing towards the stairwell.

Normally, he would be pleased to have his girlfriend all over him, but that wasn't the case anymore. As awful as it was, he visualized throwing her off the rooftop and walking away like it was no big deal.

* * *

Friday arrived and April was looking forward to seeing her reconstructed nose. By then, the bruising underneath her eyes weren't as dark, though she hoped the swelling around her nose wasn't too obvious. She sat inside Dr. Thurman's office as he gently removed her nasal splint, slightly cringing due to some pressure against her nose.

The ENT carefully examined her nose using a flashlight to look inside of her nostrils. He also removed her stitches before he handed the intern a mirror. "Have a look, Dr. Kepner. You'll notice there is still some swelling and bruising, but so far your nose is healing nicely. What do you think?"

Taking a deep breath before holding up the mirror in front of her face, April raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw her new nose. She turned her head to the side and noticed it wasn't as pointy as it was before, which she was quite happy about. Libby occasionally called her Mrs. Pinocchio because her pointy nose stood out from the side view. Once her older sister saw her new nose, she was certain that joke would be retired.

She gently touched the tip of her nose and smiled. "It looks… like my nose, only better," she happily said. "You did a great job, Dr. Thurman. Thank you."

"By the third week, you should be able to breathe through your nose again because the swelling should be gone by then. If you still can't breathe, then come see me immediately. However, I'm positive you'll continue to recover without complications," he explained and gently patted her shoulder. "Pretty soon you can proudly say, 'No one can tell it's plastic surgery'. I don't mean to brag, but I'm very excellent at what I do."

"I don't disagree with that," she chirped.

"Try not to engage in any strenuous activities – like sitting beside Dr. Percy," he quipped.

April chuckled as she handed the mirror back to Dr. Thurman. "Oh, you can definitely believe I won't be sitting anywhere near his oversized elbows from now on. I learned my lesson." She slid off of the examination table to give him a hug. "I know I already thanked you, but again, thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Dr. Kepner." He pulled away from her. "You're free to go. Don't get too cocky now."

She left Dr. Thurman's office with a bright smile on her face. If she was bold enough, she would have done a jig in the middle of the hallway because she was that proud of her nose. Even though it wasn't exactly like her old nose, the small change didn't affect the rest of her face negatively. In fact, she thought the surgery upgraded her appearance, that it would make her more noticeable.

* * *

"Okay, good. We're ten minutes early," April said, letting out a sigh of relief as she and Reed entered the Queen City Bar, which was dubbed Schmo's Bar. "I thought we'd never make it out of the apartment."

"Your fault," Reed reminded her roommate. "You wouldn't agree to any of the outfits I wanted you to wear."

Reed wanted April to look special that night for Zach. Whether or not it was considered a date, she thought the redhead deserved to stand out, especially with her new nose. After almost two hours of disagreeing over what she should wear, April finally wore a top that revealed cleavage and tight fitting jeans she borrowed from Reed. Her roommate was excited to see her showing off more skin… until she wore a jacket over her top. She helped her cover the bruising with makeup, added some lipstick and off they went.

Their male counterparts were already at the bar, drinking by the counter and hitting on the women who passed by – although, the latter was mostly done by Charles and Trevor. Jackson was waiting for April to arrive and to see her splint free nose. He hadn't seen it yet, so the anticipation was unbearable.

Sipping a glass of whiskey, he spotted the two female interns approaching them. His eyes immediately darted towards April and her nose. She was made up more than he usually saw her. He was mesmerized.

Charles playfully whistled at them, resulting in an eye roll from Reed. "Lookin' hot, Kepner!" He already had enough drinks to sound drunk and it showed on his face. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Umm, no… it's alright," April politely declined as she scanned the bar for Zach. He was on a small stage preparing for his performance with his friend. "I should let Zach know I'm here now."

"Wait!" Reed called out and forcefully removed her roommate's jacket. "Now you can go."

April nervously walked towards the stage, fidgeting with her fingers and hoping she wouldn't embarrass herself. His eyes looked up at her when she was close enough to be seen. "Hi. I'm here," she shyly greeted him.

Zach set his guitar down before hopping off of the stage. "Hey, your nose looks amazing," he praised, smiling at her. "I uhh, reserved you a special seat in the front."

He escorted her to a table with a reserved sign on it, which made her laugh. "Wow, special treatment. I… I've never felt that special before," she replied, gently biting on her lower lip as she sat down. "Thank you."

"Do you want a drink before I start? A beer? Red wine? What do you like?"

"Red wine is perfect," she cheerfully replied.

Zach walked towards the bar, briefly smiling at Jackson before he ordered April's wine. Reed snickered as she leaned close to the pretty boy. "He's buying her a drink. It's a date," she whispered into his ear.

Jackson pursed his lips as he looked back at Reed unamused. "You're having fun with this, aren't you?" he muttered.

"Very much," the brunette arrogantly replied.

Nurse Rock Star received a glass of red wine, then he smirked at Jackson. "Ace your central line yet?"

"Oh, yeah. I can do it blindfolded," he sarcastically answered. Jackson silently mouthed every curse word he could think of as the nurse walked away. He watched him hand the wine glass to April and take his place on the stage. "Do you think I'll get kicked out if I boo?"

Reed laughed as she patted Jackson's chest with the back of her hand. "Because that'll win you some points from April." She pointed out Rachel, who just arrived at the bar with her friends. "Oh, and your girlfriend's here."

Jackson's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" He turned around, trying to hide his face. "I told her I wasn't feeling well, so she thinks I'm at home resting. She can't see me here."

"Too late," she said with a grimace. "She's heading this way."

He groaned as he covered his face with his hand, turning back around when he heard Rachel calling out his name. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Not feeling well, huh?" she angrily greeted him.

_Slow process_, he told himself in his head. The plan wasn't to break up with her abruptly, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted her to back off and leave him alone, so he decided to act on impulse.

"I'm… cheating on you," he blurted, wrapping his arm around Reed's shoulder and pulling her against his chest. "With Reed. Yeah, I'm a bastard."

"He's so talented in bed, isn't he?" Reed played along, stroking Jackson's chest with her hand as she grinned at Rachel. "Maybe we can share stories over coffee one day."

Their encounter drew gasps and stares when Rachel slapped Jackson hard across the cheek. He reached up and rubbed it as she furiously walked away from the group. Charles and Trevor were laughing hysterically, having witnessed the slap, while Reed covered her mouth to hide her own laughter.

"Okay… _oww_," he murmured, glaring at his friends. "If I knew she was gonna bitch slap me, I wouldn't have done that."

"At least she's out of the way," Reed noted, continuing to laugh.

The crowd noise started to quiet down as Zach introduced himself and his friend, Chuck. Sitting on stools with guitars resting on their laps, their first song was a slow acoustic version of "I Want You To Want Me". The nurse sang the song as he stared at April with a smile on his face.

"Oh, give me a fucking break," Jackson bitterly said, finishing his whiskey. "Sleaze bag. Can you believe she's buying this crap?"

Charles raised his eyebrow at his roommate. "Are you getting jealous over Nurse Rock Star? Dude, he's just singing to _Kepner_," he reminded him before sipping his beer. "I mean, she's looking totally hot tonight, which I didn't think was possible-"

"Shut up," he snapped and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. She's my friend. I'm just looking out for her. I don't trust that guy. He's too… nice and stuff. It's creepy. And he's basically telling her to want him like he's some sort of sex god. Could he be more full of himself?"

"You're starting to sound jealous, Avery. Like I said, it's just April," Charles pointed out and chuckled. His roommate scowled at him, then he patted his shoulder. "Let me buy you another drink to help you get over that singing doofus. And you're likely a single man now. Fish around the bar for another woman. There's plenty of them."

Jackson sighed. Charles was right. He was certain the slap from Rachel officially signaled their break up. And there were a lot of attractive women roaming around the bar, but his eyes constantly focused on one person – the perky redhead who was busy being wooed by Nurse Rock Star.

* * *

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	7. Mission: Seattle Grace Hospital

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* * *

Mercy West Medical Center was considered a top ten teaching hospital in the _nation_. Not in the state of Washington but in the entire country. However, there was one other hospital who almost always outdid them in every way possible. The name?

Seattle Grace Hospital. Over at the other side of town was another teaching hospital with respected surgeons like Mercy West. But they were a Level I Trauma Center, which meant they got all of the fascinating trauma cases. They were Mercy West's biggest rival, considering Seattle Grace was known to steal their patients before they even arrived at their ER.

At least there was one thing they had that Seattle Grace didn't – an Avery working at their hospital.

Jackson was assigned to suture duty in the pit along with April and Charles. But it was a quiet day in the ER, so there weren't many patients to stitch up. Without any patients to tend to, it meant they sat around basically doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. Zach was working downstairs with them, so he and April spent their free time wisely.

It had been two weeks since Nurse Rock Star won over the redhead's heart at Schmo's. They were dating, but Jackson was grateful that he hadn't seen them kissing, if they even did that. He couldn't tell since April was all about professionalism at work, so any signs of PDA with her new boyfriend were never seen. But they spent a lot of time together, meeting up for lunch or simply chatting by the nurses' station. And occasionally, Zach gave the pretty boy a specific smirk that made him want to punch his face in. In his mind, he may have been a nice man, but he could also come off as an arrogant prick.

He silently observed the couple, who were sitting beside each other on an empty hospital bed with their backs facing him. Seated next to Charles on another bed, he watched April let out one of her adorable giggles after Zach said something he couldn't decipher. It probably wasn't even funny. And the whole time, he had been ignoring his roommate's rambles about some guy who operated on a police officer in an elevator at Seattle Grace.

"I bet it was totally badass," Charles continued, not even noticing Jackson hadn't been listening to him. "And dude was a freaking intern. Why don't we get to experience anything cool like that?"

He punched his roommate's arm after he realized Jackson was lost in thought. "Hey, Avery. Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Huh?" Jackson spun his head towards Charles and cleared his throat. "Badass intern or whatever."

"You've been acting weird as hell since Kepner started dating that nurse," he pointed out, gazing over at April and Zach. "You constantly stare at them like you're dying for a threesome with them."

"Shut up, that's not it," Jackson retorted, elbowing Charles' side. Half of his feelings were overprotective and the other half was jealousy. He was beginning to understand how she felt whenever his world revolved around Rachel. It was the other way around now. And it sucked for him. "I can't trust that guy for whatever reason. Something has to be wrong with him."

Charles chuckled and shook his head. "Are you always paranoid when you're jealous?" He brushed off the scowl on Jackson's face, gesturing his hand towards April. "So you find out she had a crush on you and you suddenly decide to have the hots for her? Or are you falling for her because she's with someone else and you can't have her?"

"What? I'm not falling for her."

"That's the worst bullshit that's come out of your mouth since I met you," he scoffed. "You're not fooling any of us, Avery. Even my drunk ass at Schmo's figured it out a couple of weeks ago. It makes sense, man. You suddenly dump Rachel after you were a horndog for like a month? No guy just dumps a hot girl like that for no reason."

"I did have my reasons," Jackson murmured. He stared down at his shoes as he dangled his legs back and forth. "She was becoming a pain in the ass. Reed also knocked some sense into me."

"Yeah, by telling you April had feelings for you," Charles added, grinning at him. "Heard you two arguing when Trevor and I were waiting outside of the ER. Be honest with me. What is it about April that you like?"

Jackson sighed as he looked up at his roommate. "A lot of things. I was just too stupid and blind to realize how good of a friend she actually is." He softly groaned. "I should've read her notebook when I had the chance."

"Oh, yeah. Then she'd really want you after that," his fellow intern sarcastically replied.

Swanson arrived at the pit appearing more disgruntled than ever. She stood beside her two male interns with her arms folded. "I really hate my roommate. She's a resident at Seattle Grace and last night, they got a bunch of trauma. Some train accident brought in dozens of patients, including _two_ people impaled by the same pole. That bitch," she complained.

Charles smirked at the blonde resident. "You're rooming with a Seattle Grace doctor? Does she know the heart in an elevator guy?"

"Yes. Heard he's a doofus like you," she quipped, eliciting a laugh from Jackson. "And you know what else sucks? _We_ should've gotten those patients because the accident happened much closer to us. But since they're a Level I and we're only Level II, they got them."

"If they're so great, why didn't you do your residency there?" Jackson asked.

"Because… Seattle Grace is to Harvard as Mercy West is to Columbia," Swanson said, comparing the two programs. "I'm not a crowd follower. The sheep flock to Seattle Grace, but Mercy West is also an excellent program."

"I wonder what makes them so much better, though."

A light bulb suddenly turned on inside of Swanson's head. "I have an idea," she stated and pointed at Jackson. "I'm sending you out to do some off-campus work for me. Our attendings are always trying to figure out ways to make our hospital run better, so your job is to visit Seattle Grace and try to find ideas to steal from them."

Jackson nervously laughed. "Me?" He nodded his head towards Charles. "Why can't you send Percy?"

Swanson took a brief glance at Charles before looking back at Jackson. "Like I said, I'm sending you out to do some off-campus work for me. It's either this or rectal exams for the rest of the day."

"Fine, fine. I'll go," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I should have a partner in crime. We don't want anybody over there suspecting us, you know?"

Charles shrugged. "I can go-"

Jackson covered his roommate's mouth with his hand, then he used his other hand to point at April. "I think Kepner should go with me," he suggested. Anything to drag her away from Nurse Rock Star for a while. "After all, she's your most reliable intern."

Swanson nodded in agreement, giving Jackson a quick pat on the back. "Good thinking, Avery." She smiled as she approached April and Zach. "Oh, Kepner…"

* * *

"Jackson, this is a bad idea," April complained as she entered the main lobby of Seattle Grace with Jackson. She was sporting a fake baby bump underneath a maternity shirt Swanson forced her to wear. "And for the record, this is a real empathy belly. It weighs like 30 pounds!"

"Swanson wanted us to look like a believable, expecting couple. Just suck it up," Jackson said, resting his hand against her lower back. He scanned the lobby for their tour guide. "She said a doctor would be waiting for us here. So… where's our doctor?"

She pointed at a blonde doctor standing alone with her hands inside of her pockets. "Maybe her."

They walked towards the doctor, who took notice of them. She smiled and extended out her hand. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Guppy. I'm Dr. Isobel Stevens. I'll be giving you a tour of some of our facilities," she introduced herself.

Jackson shook Izzie's hand. "Yup… that's us. The guppies," he sheepishly replied. He figured Swanson would give them a ridiculous name to go by. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Stevens."

"Follow me," Izzie ordered as she led them to the elevators. "So, how far along are you, Mrs. Guppy?"

"Umm… eight months?" April glanced at Jackson, who quickly shrugged his shoulders. "Eight months."

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" she asked, while they entered an open elevator. Both Mercy Westers responded with different sexes at the same time, causing her to look at them confused. "You're having twins?"

April waved her hand and nervously laughed. "Oh, no. My husband really wanted our first born to be a boy, but we're having a girl," she insisted, playfully slapping Jackson's chest. "He's in denial. Uhh, little Delilah Guppy is her name."

Jackson smirked at her. "Delilah? I thought we were naming her, uhh… Japril."

"Combining the parents' names? I don't think so," the redhead scoffed. "I'm surprised you didn't suggest Jackson for her name since you're so in love with yourself."

"Come again?" he replied, appearing offended.

"So, what do you two do for a living?" Izzie decided to break the tension and intervened.

Jackson pointed at himself. "I am a… teacher. I teach history."

Izzie softly laughed. "A teacher? No offense, but I wasn't expecting you to be a teacher. I know, I know. I sound extremely shallow right now, but then again, people say I don't look like a surgeon."

"He used to be a stripper," April added, slyly grinning at Jackson.

"Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrow. "I suppose I'm not surprised."

"As a matter of fact, my dear wife used to be one too," Jackson chimed in, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He smiled back at April, who slightly glared at him. "We met at a… stripper convention. Actually, she was performing on the pole. And I must say, she had very and I mean, _very_ strong legs. She was dressed as a Catholic school girl-"

He grunted after his fake wife elbowed him in the gut. She forced herself to laugh as Izzie eyed them curiously.

"So, you said you're a surgeon?" April decided to change the subject. "How long have you been working here?"

"A few months. It's my first year here. I'm just an intern," Izzie cheerfully answered. "But we got some pretty awesome cases last night in the ER. Well, I probably shouldn't call them awesome because people died, but we get something interesting every day. Like, I've seen people come in with conditions I didn't know existed."

"Speaking of the ER, will we get a chance to see that?" Jackson inquired. "You know, in case one of us ends up there for whatever reason. I want to ensure we'll be taken care of efficiently."

Izzie slowly nodded as she stepped out of the elevator. "Sure, although this tour mainly consists of the maternity unit and meeting our newest OB/GYN. She's also a neonatal surgeon. Probably the best ever," she said, turning around to face the pretend couple. "Plus, you two have a free Lamaze class with other expectant couples afterwards."

April looked at Jackson concerned, while they followed Izzie down a hallway. "Swanson never said anything about a Lamaze class," she whispered with wide eyes. "I'm not really pregnant, remember?"

Jackson smirked at her. "But you still gave our nonexistent baby a name," he murmured. "Delilah?"

"At least it sounded better than _Japril_," she playfully retorted. "And I'm the last person you'll see dancing on a stripper pole. I so do not have stripper legs to begin with. I don't have a stripper bone in my body."

"Well, what's with blurting out that I'm in love with myself?"

"I'm trying to get inside of a pregnant woman's head. I thought maybe one with raging hormones would take shots at her husband," she explained. April giggled as she grinned at Jackson. "Don't take it so literally, Mr. Guppy."

Jackson sighed as she walked a few steps ahead of him to catch up with Izzie. All of the teasing and joking around between them was fun, but it also made him feel worse because at the end of the day, he had to remind himself that she was dating someone else.

* * *

"Slowly breathe in and exhale," the Lamaze instructor said as she watched all of the expecting women practice their breathing. "Good, good. You're all doing great."

Jackson couldn't help but quietly laugh at April for taking the exercise seriously, though she only did it to avoid getting caught. He sat directly behind her with his hands resting on the fake belly. His face was merely inches away from her face and her backside was practically rubbing against the front of his jeans. It was torture.

"So…" he started to ask while the Lamaze instructor was on the opposite side of the room. "You and Zach are getting pretty serious now."

April turned her head to smirk at Jackson. "It's only been two weeks. It's anything but serious," she chuckled. They hadn't talked about his break up with Rachel. She only heard from Reed that he lied about cheating to finally get rid of her, though she had no idea why. "Umm… how are you doing since you and Rachel- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Girlfriends come and go. No big deal," he unenthusiastically replied. "She just wasn't who I thought she was. Better to escape before I get trapped, right?"

"I guess," she answered with a shrug. "I suppose I know what you mean, realizing the person you're with is someone else. Although, I was the one getting dumped. I'm trying not to place high expectations with Zach. Who knows how he'll feel about me a month from now?"

"From the looks of it, he seems very much into you," Jackson bitterly said, rolling his eyes. "Does he get to read your red notebook?"

April shook her head. "I don't let anybody read it – intentionally, anyway." She shifted her seating position and softly groaned. The empathy belly was taking a toll on her. "My back's killing me. I can't wait to ditch this thing."

Jackson moved his hands to her lower back and started to massage it. "Do you mind?"

"Nope," she sighed, closing her eyes and smiling. "Just what I need right now. Thank you."

He leaned forward, taking in the scent of her shampoo. It had a hint of vanilla and honey mixed together. She seemed to be enjoying it based on the faint moans coming out of her mouth. In terms of practicing her breathing, she wasn't kidding around anymore. The massage she was receiving from her friend felt _really_ good. She needed to control herself, but he made it hard for her.

She immediately raised her hand. "I need to use the restroom," she yelped, pushing herself up from the mat they were sitting on. The redhead adjusted her top before rushing out of the room.

Jackson jumped up to his feet and followed her out into the hallway. April was pacing back and forth when he approached her. "Is everything okay?"

"Why don't we sneak down to the ER?" she suggested, ignoring his question. Smiling brightly at him, she grabbed his wrist and led him down the hallway. "All we have to do is find the nearest elevator and we're set."

They found an elevator and walked inside. Jackson leaned back against a railing, while April stood a foot in front of her. She was blushing, but she didn't want him to see that. Their moment in the Lamaze class was the closest they had ever been and she felt incredibly awkward about it. Zach was her chance to move on from him. She truly developed feelings for the nurse, but that freaking massage from her friend almost forced her to relapse.

She continued to tell herself that she wasn't Jackson's type. But she was Zach's. He was a sweet and caring guy with a beautiful singing voice. How could she not fall for him?

But Jackson was… Jackson. Despite her feelings for Zach, he was definitely not a Jackson Avery. Perhaps that was why she liked Nurse Rock Star. She wasn't insecure around him. He made her feel comfortable, unlike her gorgeous friend.

"So, uhh-" He watched her step out of the elevator when they reached the ER's floor. It was obvious she was slightly avoiding him. Following her into the pit, they stopped to observe the numerous doctors and nurses walking around in various directions. All of the beds were filled with patients. Some critical, some only suffering minor injuries. "This isn't fair."

"I know! Their scrubs look so much nicer than the orange ones we wear," she whined.

"I was talking about the fact that they're loaded with patients," he replied, folding his arms. "And it looks like the baby blue ones are the surgeons. They're wearing the same scrubs as Dr. Stevens. Also, the way they're fighting over patients makes it obvious."

April nodded as she stared at a Korean female surgeon fight with a guy who said the words "dude" and "freaking" a lot. "Their ER appears disorganized. At least we play fairly with our zones protocol," she pointed out. "We're not chaotic like they are."

The male surgeon fighting with the Korean came charging by, bumping into April in the process. "Dude, watch where you're going," he sternly said, scowling at her.

"Hey, I'm pregnant here!" she retorted.

"Do you need some help? If not, then get out of the freaking way," he angrily replied, walking away from her and mumbling to himself about a doctor named Yang stealing his patient.

Jackson glared at the man as he walked past them. "Douche," he muttered. He suddenly panicked when a familiar face appeared in the ER. "Oh, crap!"

April was caught off-guard by how quickly he rushed her away from the ER. "Jackson, what the hell are you doing?"

Peeking around the corner, he spotted an older African American man in navy blue scrubs standing nearby. "See that doctor over there?" he asked, pointing at the man. "That's Richard Webber. He's the Chief of Surgery here. He's friends with my mom and grandfather. I've met him in the past, so he can't see me."

"Webber? I think I've heard of that name," she said, taking a look at the Chief. "Is he a nice guy?"

"Yeah, I guess. My mother's been yearning to jump into his pants since my father left, but I'm pretty sure Webber's married," the pretty boy recalled. "Of course, she can't take no for an answer, so she'll probably keep bugging him until he gives in."

Now when she thought about it he rarely spoke of his father. She had heard many stories about Catherine Avery and her overbearing personality, which Jackson seemed to be quite annoyed with, but nothing on Harper Avery Jr. All she knew was he left the family during Jackson's teenage years.

"What happened to your dad?" she asked curiously. "You, umm… never told me what happened to him."

He looked back at her appearing uncomfortable and agitated. "He was a coward. Couldn't hack it as a surgeon and fled. That's all you need to know."

"Do you keep in touch?"

"My father chose not to, so no." Jackson motioned his hand to follow him as he walked down a hallway. "Let's find our way back to the lobby before someone catches us."

After ten minutes of wandering around, they returned to the main lobby of the hospital. They were greeted by Izzie, who was coming from another direction.

"Hey, guys. How was the Lamaze class?"

"Uneasy," April blurted out, drawing a confused look from Jackson. She forced herself to laugh as she gently patted her fake belly. "Little Delilah was pushing up against my boobs. Even the breathing exercises weren't helping. And my bladder was compromised."

"Oh, that's too bad, but you'll consider giving birth here, right?" Izzie inquired. "Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd was nice enough? While she's a fantastic doctor, her husband refers to her as Satan. It's pretty hilarious. Long story that I'm sure you couldn't care less about."

"What do you think about Mercy West?" April decided to ask. "I've heard their services are great as well."

Izzie softly laughed. "Yeah, they're good, but we're better. We have world renowned surgeons at this hospital _and_ we're a Level I Trauma Center, so we get all of the best cases. Mercy West was my second choice, but I'm thankful to have gotten into Seattle Grace," she bragged. "Except my resident can be kind of intimidating. We call her The Nazi."

Jackson zoned out Izzie's gloating as his eyes wandered elsewhere. He spotted a small Inuit doll sitting on the counter of the nurses' station and swiftly swiped it, stuffing it inside of his jacket pocket without anybody noticing. It wasn't that he wanted to keep the doll. He simply felt like stealing something from the hospital.

A shorter man approached them, seeking information from Izzie. April tried to hide her face, but it was too late. He stared at her like he recognized her from somewhere.

"Hey, don't I know y-"

"No," she interrupted, biting down on her lower lip. It was that liar, George O'Malley. He must have seen her fake profile considering he immediately realized he had seen her before. "I-I I don't think we've ever met."

George shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I've seen you on-" He paused, feeling just as embarrassed about joining an online dating website. "Y-you're April Kepner, the underwear model, but... you look much shorter than I thought."

April immediately waved her hand. "You're mistaken, umm…" She leaned forward to pretend to read George's name on his lab coat. "Dr. O'Malley. I'm Nancy Guppy. I have no idea who this April Kepner you're speaking of is."

Izzie glanced back and forth between George and April. "What the hell is going on? George, do you two know each other?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Please don't tell me you gave her syphilis too and that's why she's in denial."

"Syphilis?" Jackson smirked at April, amused by the exchange happening between the redhead and the Seattle Grace intern. "Mrs. Guppy, who have you been sleeping with?"

"Nobody, I swear!" April shrieked and pointed at George. "He- he's a pathological liar or something. Maybe delusional. If you don't stop harassing me, my husband will kick your ass an-and I'll report you to your superior."

"George!" Izzie exclaimed, glaring at her coworker.

"She's the liar!" he insisted, pointing at April. "I saw your profile on eHarmony. I'm not hallucinating."

Jackson laughed. "_What_? I'm sorry, but I'm completely lost at the moment."

"So am I," Izzie agreed, raising her eyebrow at April. "So are you Mrs. Guppy or April Kepner?"

"I'm uhh… Jackson, run!" she yelled as she sprinted as hard as she could towards the exit, though her empathy belly made it difficult for her to run fast. Looking over her shoulder, Jackson was right behind her, while George and Izzie both watched them flee, appalled by what just happened.

They laughed hysterically at how terrible they were at being incognito when they reached the parking lot. Maybe if she hadn't seen George, they would have been fine. April climbed into the backseat of Jackson's car and immediately removed her maternity top.

"I _need_ this empathy belly gone!" She practically ripped off the straps on the back before pulling the belly over her head. Letting out a sigh of relief, she placed her hands against her lower back. "I'm free."

Jackson faced forward, though he peeked at April's half-naked body through the rearview mirror. She was too caught up in being belly free that she forgot she was topless and sitting in the backseat in her bra. He hadn't seen her front side when he watched her change in the locker room that one time. Now that he had…

He clenched his steering wheel and cursed at himself in his mind for being a pervert. "Uhh… are you going to walk into Mercy West without a shirt on?"

She gasped and picked up her maternity shirt to cover herself up. "Don't look, okay?" the redhead shyly requested as she wore her top again.

Crawling into the passenger seat in the front, she wore her seatbelt and stared down at her shoes. She let her attractive friend see her half-naked, which may or may not be somewhat embarrassing for her. Not to mention she was wearing a white bra with lavender polka dots. That hardly screamed sexy to her at all. She adjusted her hair to hide the left side of her face and her blushing cheeks.

Using his free hand, Jackson reached inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out the Inuit doll. "Hey, I snatched this up from one of the nurses' stations. I doubt they'll miss it, let alone notice it's gone. Think of it as a little present for being my fake wife."

"Aww, it's so cute!" she squealed, taking the doll from him. "Thank you, fake husband. I'll name him… Little Jackman."

He smiled at her. "Little Jackman. Nice name. I like it."

Not Little Zachman or Little Rock Star. Little Jackman. He appreciated the fact that it only took her a few seconds to name the cheesy gift after him and not her new boyfriend.

* * *

"Wait, so that George guy recognized you from eHarmony?" Reed asked with a grin on her face as she sat beside April at the counter in Schmo's Bar.

"It was really strange and he pretty much blew our cover," April said, sharing a laugh with her roommate. She sipped her scotch and groaned. "And I seriously felt like I was pregnant. My feet are sore, my back aches so badly. That empathy belly was no joke."

Jackson was seated on the opposite side of April and placed his hand against her lower back, gently rubbing it. "You'll be fine. A little ice will cure that pain away." He softly laughed when she squirmed and turned her body away from him. "What?"

"Ticklish," she sheepishly replied before sipping her scotch again.

"So, what's this talk about eHarmony?" he asked intrigued. "You met George on that website?"

"Not necessarily." April nodded her head towards Reed. "She thought it'd be a good idea to sign me up and fill my profile with dozens of lies. Turned out, George also lied. He clearly wasn't 6'3" and I'm pretty sure he's an intern like us and not some great neurosurgeon."

"Tell us about Seattle Grace," her roommate demanded. "What was it like over there? Were they all gods and goddesses with light surrounding them wherever they went?"

Jackson chuckled. "No. They're just arrogant as hell. Their ER isn't all that either," he remarked. "_We_ should be a Level I Trauma Center. Our organization skills are way more advanced than theirs. It's probably the badass surgeons they hired that make their hospital stand out."

Zach entered the bar, deflating the fun Jackson had been having since he and April left Seattle Grace. The nurse approached the threesome at the bar and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist from behind.

"Hey," he greeted, kissing her cheek.

Jackson pursed his lips, facing forward and drinking his glass of whiskey. Listening to April's perky voice greet him excitedly, he imagined himself smashing his glass over Zach's head. He had an enjoyable day with her, then Nurse Rock Star had to come in and ruin it. It didn't help when she slid off of her stool to go dance with him by the jukebox.

Reed watched her roommate slow dance with Zach. "Oh, look at her. She's so happy," she said, briefly checking to see Jackson's reaction. He appeared annoyed and bitter, a total flip from how his face looked a minute ago. "Aww, what's the matter, Avery? Still jealous?"

He rolled his eyes in response to her teasing. "You and Percy are the same. Get married already."

"Stop being a sourpuss. If you want my advice, you better make a move before April starts getting serious with Zach," she suggested. "On the other hand, she's my roommate and friend, so if you do anything to hurt her, I will gladly chop off your balls."

"Thanks, Reed. You're making me feel so much better," he sarcastically replied.

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he cringed when he caught April and Zach kissing. He had hoped he would never have to witness that. It was karma for all of the times he made out with Rachel in front of her, he thought. But if he caught them doing more than kissing, he might go nuts.

* * *

**Ipecac the Inuit doll (I hope you got the reference) will now be known as Little Jackman :D**


	8. Flag Football

**Thanks for the reviews! :) So I know some of you are wondering if the merger will be in the story and the answer is no. This fic will only cover intern year. Also, those waiting for Japril romance - it will happen soon, I promise!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

After almost a full month of dating, April grew more comfortable about being in a relationship with Zach. They weren't having the type of relationship where they jumped into each other's pants every day. They were taking it slow, one day at a time. Each day the intern learned something new about Nurse Rock Star and vice versa. She was a sucker for good, old fashioned romance – going out to dinner and getting to know each other at the same time, flowers sent to her apartment for no apparent reason. And he hadn't forced her to do anything she didn't want to do. He was a sweetheart.

But that was exactly how her two previous relationships started with her ex-boyfriends. Sweet in the beginning before their true colors surfaced. She had trust issues and rightfully so. Sometimes she rejected the opportunity to be in a relationship because she was afraid of getting hurt again. Her low self-esteem problems used to be a giant roadblock, especially in high school. Boyfriend number one didn't happen until her freshman year of college. Number two came along midway through medical school.

Perhaps she could partially blame herself. Academics was important to her, finishing at the top of her class every year at Akron. A big overachiever who wanted to impress everybody with her intelligence more than her social skills. And when a man finally noticed her she wasn't sure what to do. Trying to seek advice from Libby was always disastrous. Her older sister normally teased her rather than offer words of wisdom. She had girlfriends, but nobody she considered her best friend. She pretty much did the figuring out on her own.

Now she had Reed, who seemed to be tolerating her quirky traits and perky personality well. Her roommate would offer advice if she asked for it. There was also Jackson, but she felt awkward talking to him about Zach because he typically tried to change the subject after a few exchanges between them.

April was hanging out by the nurses' station like she normally did since she started dating Zach. He had been bragging about an annual flag football game between the nurses and the surgeons that he took part in. The surgeons almost always consisted of the interns. None of the attendings dared to risk injuring themselves over flag football and the interns were at the bottom of the food chain. The game would be taking place that weekend.

"So, is there something at stake with this game?" she inquired.

"Mostly bragging rights," he answered before he sipped his coffee. "And the nurses typically feel disrespected by the surgeons. I mean, not all of you look down at us, but we take pride in kicking your asses. We've won the last two years, so I'm prepared for a third year in a row."

"What makes you think it'll be a cakewalk?" April smirked at her boyfriend. "You know, Jackson played football in college. He might be interested in saving us from embarrassment."

"Huh, that Jackson… I don't think he likes me," Zach noted.

"Why do you think that?"

He softly chuckled. "Have you not noticed the dirty looks he gives me? I'm not sure what his deal is, but ever since I tried to help him start a central line he's been kind of douchey towards me. Must be his rich boy ego."

She shook her head. "He's not a douche once you get to know him. Jackson's actually one of my closest friends here. Maybe you two should hang out at Schmo's and bond over drinks," the redhead suggested.

"Would _he_ want to do that?"

"It wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Oh, yeah. There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Zach said, changing the subject. "Thanksgiving is in a couple weeks. I thought maybe you'd like to come home with me to Spokane and meet the parents. What do ya say?"

Meeting the parents? April hadn't even met the parents of her two ex-boyfriends, but she also never brought them home either. She had only been dating Zach for a month and he already wanted her to meet the parents? She wasn't sure if she was ready for that. Plus, she never knew if there should be a specific timeline for when it was appropriate to meet the boyfriend's parents. Her own folks didn't meet Libby's husband until _after_ they were engaged. Big Joe Kepner was not pleased at all.

"Y-you think they're ready to meet me?" April hesitantly asked.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with you," he added with a smile. "I think they'd like you."

She nervously bit her lower lip. "Are you- are you sure we're at that point yet? Meeting the parents? I'm not even sure when my parents will make it out here. Also, I don't know my schedule that far ahead yet. I might be stuck here at work…"

Zach quickly noticed the reluctance in April's answer based on her rambling and the lack of eye contact. "Listen, you don't have to come with me if you're not interested," he insisted. "Meeting the parents _is_ a big deal. I just thought it'd be a fun, nice break from the hospital environment."

"I… I'm interested, but isn't that moving a little too fast?" she asked concerned. "We, uhh… we've only been dating for a month. What if something were to happen between now and Thanksgiving?"

"Like what exactly?" he slowly asked, raising his eyebrow.

April tapped her finger against the cover of her coffee cup. "I don't know? Maybe you'll meet somebody better?"

Zach stared at her in confusion. "Why do you think that?"

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "There's always somebody better – at least when it comes to me anyway," the intern muttered.

"That's ridiculous – thinking you're not good enough for me, I mean." He gently pushed back her hair behind her ear. "If I thought you weren't, then I wouldn't have been so eager to invite you home for Thanksgiving. I know it sounds too soon, but if you're up for it, I promise it won't be an overwhelming experience. My parents are good people. I'll make sure they don't suffocate you with an endless amount of questions."

"Is it alright if I take some time to think about it?"

"Sure, no problem." Zach leaned forward, placing a kiss on April's lips. "I have to go check on some patients, so I'll see you later?"

April slightly smiled and nodded. "Yup. See you later."

As the nurse walked away to visit his patients, Jackson came around the corner. He bumped into Zach in the process, resulting in both of them giving each other an unspoken glare. The intern spotted April by the nurses' station and approached her.

"Hey, what are you up to?" he greeted his friend.

"Nothing. I'm supposed to pick up some lab results in ten minutes, so I was just killing time by talking to Zach. Did you need me for something?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, but if you're not busy, could you help me come up with an excuse to tell my mother? She told me she's making plans to visit me on Thanksgiving, which really translates to checking up on me to see how badly I'm shaming the Avery name," he bitterly explained.

April softly gasped. "Catherine Avery's coming to town? I would _love_ to meet her!" she chirped before quickly wiping the smile from her face when he blankly stared back at her. "I-I I mean, I suppose… I can help you. Why don't you want your mom visiting?"

"Because she's a meddler and she's a psycho," he bluntly said. "I already know the first thing she's going to ask me when she arrives. 'Baby, are you seeing anyone? What's her name? Will I get to meet her?'"

She laughed at his imitation of his mother's voice. "Does she care _that_ much about your love life?"

"Yes," he groaned. "At Harvard, I tried my best to hide my girlfriends from her. You have no idea how embarrassing she is when she meets them. I know she just wants what's best for me, but sometimes she's too… she talks too much. Let's leave it at that."

"But it's Thanksgiving. You know, the time when we're supposed to be thankful for what we have?" she reminded him. "C'mon, you don't miss your family at all?"

"No," he chuckled. "If you met my family, you'd understand why I'm dreading my mother's visit."

Unlike Jackson, April had hoped to see her family on Thanksgiving. There was a high possibility she would be working during the holiday because she was an intern, so it would have been refreshing to have family to spend time with, even for a few hours. But her parents already made plans for Thanksgiving on the farm. Libby and Kimmie would be going home to Moline. Alice was 50/50, while April had a feeling she would be the one left out.

"At least you have family coming. Mine are all gonna be in Moline… without me," she replied disappointedly.

Now Jackson began to feel guilty. He knew she was close to her family and occasionally she admitted experiencing home sickness. Suddenly, the light bulb in his head blinked on.

"I have an idea," he said with a mischievous smile on his face. "Be my pretend girlfriend."

"_What_?" April stared at Jackson, half-amused and half-shocked. She furrowed her eyebrows as she folded her arms and laughed. "Are you serious? That's- that's nonsense. Your mother won't believe I'm your girlfriend."

"Why not? You're not skanky or rude or anything obnoxious. You're _perfect_." He watched her shyly smile and roll her eyes. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he let out a laugh. "I'm not kidding. There's no way she'll tell me that you're wrong for me. And you just said you wanted to meet her."

April grimaced. "Yeah, but… I'll probably screw it up. Your mom is like a goddess in the surgical world. I used her articles in my research papers in medical school. There's a good chance I'll embarrass myself in front of her," she insisted. "Besides, I might have plans for Thanksgiving."

"Work? I'm probably working too. It'll be fine."

"No. Well, if I'm not working, I might go to Spokane with Zach. He… uhh, wants me to meet his parents," she murmured. "I didn't realize we were at that level yet. It's too soon, right? When are you supposed to meet the parents?"

Jackson forced himself to laugh to hide his disappointment. "Umm… I guess it varies from couple to couple. He must really like you if he wants you to meet his parents after, what? A month of dating? Sounds like it's getting serious for him. Is that how you feel?"

"Honestly?" April slightly frowned. "I thought we were taking it slower. Taking it one day at a time. I don't want to make the mistake of getting ahead of myself again. We haven't even… well, let's just say you've seen more of me than he has – unintentionally, of course."

He wanted to smile, but he couldn't. The pretty boy was glad to have one-upped Zach at something involving April. She wasn't having sex with Nurse Rock Star. He was mentally fist pumping at that fact.

"What should I do? I don't know if I'm ready to meet his parents. If I don't have work and I turn him down, he's going to assume something terrible and we'll be rocky and-"

"Just do what you feel is comfortable for you," he advised, interrupting another ramble. "But if you're stuck here at work with me, will you consider helping me out with my mother? You already played the fake wife. Fake girlfriend won't be any different."

She pressed her lips together, then she gave her friend a half-smile. "You're desperate for help, aren't you?"

He sheepishly grinned at her. "It's my _mom_. Desperate is an understatement."

"Oh, alright," she agreed, standing on her tip toes to give him a hug. "You may be a better girlfriend than Reed when it comes to advice."

Jackson softly laughed as his arms wrapped around his perky friend's waist. He would gladly take that compliment from her.

Standing in the doorway of one of his patient's rooms, Zach watched the two interns embrace in a close hug. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he thought maybe he was slowly beginning to figure out why Jackson loathed him. The rude shoulder bumps, the dirty looks – it was all making sense to him now.

* * *

Up on the rooftop, the three male interns were tossing around a football that Charles took from a lost and found bin. They wanted to squeeze in practice for the flag football game during their lunch break. When Jackson learned from April that Zach would be participating for the nurses he didn't hesitate to join the surgeons' team. Nothing would be more enjoyable than beating him in a friendly game of football. He had played wide receiver and safety at Harvard. He was also an avid football junkie.

Trevor had experience playing quarterback for Brigham Young University, which Charles thought was ironic because some of his roommate's behavior contradicted the school's Honor Code and their religion in general. The man could throw, though. He and Jackson made for a nice tag team.

Charles, on the other hand, needed work on his own throwing.

April screamed when the football hit the wall she was sitting against, merely inches away from her face. "Watch the nose, Charles! One broken nose was enough!" she scolded him, rolling the football towards Jackson.

"That was close," Reed noted and smirked at April, who protectively rubbed her nose. "I don't think he'll be as useful as Jackson and Trevor on Saturday. Are you playing?"

"Oh, gosh. No way," she responded and laughed. "I'm so not athletic at all. I'm not supposed to be participating in strenuous activities yet anyway. I'll be on the sidelines hoping nobody gets hurt. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if a football comes flying at my nose. Charles should just play defense."

Reed playfully nudged her roommate. "Between Jackson and Zach, who do you think will score more touchdowns?"

"Beats me. They both seem to be athletic in their own ways, but Zach didn't play football in college. The nurses won the last two years with him on the team, so he can't be awful." April sighed. "He wants me to meet his parents on Thanksgiving."

"Really? How sweet." Reed noticed the uneasiness on April's face. "Not sweet?"

"I'm flattered, but… would _you_ meet your boyfriend's parents after a month of dating? To be honest, I haven't even told my parents about Zach yet," she whispered.

"So your parents have no idea you're dating a hot nurse?" she asked surprised.

"Well, I thought it was too early to tell them," April answered, poking at her salad. "If we're still together by the third month, then I'll tell them about Zach."

Reed raised her eyebrow at her. "You don't think you'll last long with him?"

"I have this feeling that meeting his parents would be a make or break deal. Anyway, I don't know if I'm going home with him yet. We might be working." April glanced over at Jackson, who was catching throws from Trevor. "And then Jackson out of nowhere asks me to be his fake girlfriend when his mom visits for Thanksgiving. Apparently, she's this huge meddler and he'd feel better about me being there with him."

"Oh, really?" she said curiously, a wide grin forming on her face.

Reed had been playing both sides, splitting time between supporting Jackson and April. While she knew he had feelings for her roommate, she was certain April hid her feelings for him deep inside because she was dating Zach. A part of her wanted to play matchmaker and throw her two friends together already. However, she thought Zach was a decent guy and Jackson missed his opportunity.

April waved her hand, brushing off the idea. "It's silly. He simply doesn't want to be alone with his mom, which is sad. I wish my mom was here to hang out with. Her Thanksgiving dinners are the best."

"At least your mom knew how to cook. Mine always hired a chef because she was that bad," she replied, shaking her head. "I'd rather stay up here, so whether or not I'm on-call I'm coming here to work. Holidays were always a pain to celebrate in the Adamson household."

"I sort of want to go along with Jackson," the redhead admitted. "His mom's pretty much a legend. Building a connection with her is a must. I could find my way to The Brigham because of her."

"So you don't want to meet Zach's parents, but you're okay with meeting Jackson's mother?" Reed asked with a smirk.

April rolled her eyes. "Meeting Catherine Avery is for professional reasons. Don't make something out of nothing." She heard various pagers ringing, including hers. All five of them were being paged. "Swanson calls, you guys. Let's go."

One by one, the interns left the roof. Jackson was the last person downstairs. As he stepped into the hallway, an arm extended out in front of his chest. It was Zach, who had been waiting nearby and found the opportunity to confront him.

"Dr. Avery," the nurse greeted him as he stood in front of the pretty boy. "You and April – good friends?"

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, so?"

Zach firmly patted Jackson's shoulder and smiled. "So, keep it that way. You may come off as this charming guy who the ladies bow down to, but you're not fooling me anymore. I know why you don't like me." His smile suddenly changed into a scowl. "If you really are a good friend, you'll back off."

Jackson placed his hands on his hips as he watched Zach walk away from him. He softly laughed to himself, turning around to stroll down the other direction. Saturday afternoon was going to be quite interesting now.

* * *

It was a gloomy afternoon in Seattle, but the flag football game between the surgical interns and the nurses at Green Lake Park wouldn't have been cancelled even if it did rain. Muddy flag football was apparently even more exciting for the men involved. A few women were participating in the event, including Rachel, who basically wanted to reconcile with Jackson. He tried to avoid her as much as possible.

Charles was warming up with Jackson, throwing the football back and forth. He caught the football before approaching his roommate. "Hey, you think you and Stanley can throw me a couple of touchdowns?" he quietly asked. "Gotta impress the ladies, you know? You don't need to make an effort. I do."

"Who are you trying to impress?" Jackson caught Charles staring at Reed and April, who were standing on the sidelines chatting with other interns. "Uhh… Reed or April or those two other girls?"

"I've been in love with her since our second year at U-Dub," the taller man confessed. "And she has no idea."

"Reed?" Jackson glanced back and forth between his roommate and Reed. Not once did Charles mention anything about her romantically – until now. "You haven't told her how you feel at all?"

"How can I when she's always throwing insults at me and calling me Charlie?" he replied in a defeated tone. "She kind of just sees me as a little brother. For your information, she's only a month older than me… and I'm not little."

Jackson patted Charles' chest with the back of his hand. "Just tell her how you feel, man. She's single, you're single. Do it before it's too late."

Charles pointed at himself. "I'm a great catch, right?"

"Yeah, you're better than half of the guys working at the hospital."

"You know what would suck? The day comes when I finally find the courage to tell Reed how I feel, then some crazy bastard arrives and shoots up the hospital."

"Hmm… the odds of that happening are relatively low," Jackson answered with a smirk. He grabbed the football from Charles. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

Unlike the interns, the nurses were serious about their warm ups. Watching some of the male nurses run routes on their side of the field, Charles chuckled at their hardcore attitudes. "Geez, you'd think we were getting ready for the Super Bowl," he quipped. "All the more reason to kick their asses."

Jackson eyed Zach, who was one of those hardcore nurses. "Yeah. I wish this was tackle football. Nurse Rock Star wouldn't even know what was coming to him. He tried to threaten me the other day because he thinks I'm trying to steal April from him."

"Aren't you?" his roommate asked and laughed.

"Well, he's not supposed to figure that out, but he did," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I don't know how he noticed anything, but it doesn't seem like he told her. April would've said something to me by now."

Trevor ran up to his roommates, slapping their asses at the same time. "Guys, we're starting now."

Charles chuckled as he pointed his finger at Trevor. "Don't do that again, dude." He and the other two huddled up with their fellow interns before the beginning of the game. "Remember the game plan, everybody. Clear the paths for Avery and I to catch the football."

"I'll make sure to block out the nurses for you, Jackson," Rachel said, winking at her ex-boyfriend.

Jackson's eyes slowly wandered away from the blonde. "Right," he muttered.

After breaking their huddle, everybody on the playing field took their places. April acted as the cheerleader for both squads. She thought it was necessary to root for her boyfriend, despite wanting the interns to win for bragging rights. Reed had to step a couple of feet away to avoid going deaf from her roommate's loud cheers. It surprised her how loud the Ohio native suddenly became. Maybe she had a secret competitive side nobody knew existed, she thought.

First points went to the interns. Jackson used his speed to fly by everyone and score the first touchdown in less than ten seconds. He celebrated with his own touchdown dance, which made April laugh. But the nurses immediately countered with a touchdown from Zach. It was going to be a battle between the pretty boy and the rock star. They started defending each other, which may or may not have been the brightest idea.

"And the testosterone level's about to go bonkers any minute now," Reed joked. She shook her head and laughed when Charles bobbled the football and missed the chance to score a touchdown. "Oh, Charlie. He really should stick to defense."

Jackson took an elbow to the jaw from Zach when they both jumped up for the football. He immediately took offense to it, shoving the nurse and creating a small scuffle between the male interns and the nurses.

"Told you so," the brunette chuckled. She looked at April, who watched the scuffle worriedly. "It's football. You know how barbaric guys can get."

"Those two… _really_ don't like each other," April said, looking back at her roommate. "Why can't we all just get along?"

"Our lives would be quite boring without a little drama, don't you think?" Reed stood beside April and leaned close to her ear. "They certainly aren't fighting because they're jealous of each other's hot bodies."

"What are you trying to say?"

Reed smacked her forehead. "Seriously, April. How can you _not_ figure it out? You're the problem," she pointed out as the scuffle finally dispersed on the field. "And I mean that in the nicest way possible. You've never had two men fighting over you before, huh?"

"No- wait, what?" Her head quickly turned towards her roommate with wide eyes. Reed simply nodded her head in response. "Jackson, he… does he really, umm… _really_?"

"Would he be trying to kill your boyfriend in what should be a friendly football game if he didn't?" Reed insinuated, smiling innocently. "You didn't think it was possible, huh?"

"But why now?" she asked, appearing annoyed. "Why couldn't he notice me sooner? Does he expect me to run into his arms as soon as he knows that I know? Zach is a really great guy. This isn't fair. I've never been in this dilemma before. I was fine with being drama free."

"I'm sure."

"I'm serious. No drama means more focus on medicine." April sighed as her eyes settled on Jackson. "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything at work when those pretty green and blue eyes are staring at me? He's going to use that gorgeous smile of his to distract me and it's all over from there. I'll be so distracted that I'll accidentally miss a step in a typical examination, forget to check a patient's airway and she'll die from multiple organ failure because Jackson-"

Reed groaned. "Oh my God, April. These ramblings of yours have got to stop or at least keep them to a minimum," she interrupted her roommate. "I'm sorry, but they can be annoying. Just thought you should know."

April frowned. "This is bad, Reed. Now I can't act normal around him."

The football game continued with both teams scoring more touchdowns in a back and forth match. Many nurses and interns were dirty and sporting bloody scrapes on their knees from sliding on the grass. It had been a heated game since the mini brawl ensued, but nobody was ready to back down yet.

With the interns on defense, Jackson watched Zach closely like a hawk. He refused to give up a fourth touchdown to him. Plus, the nurse constantly smiled and waved at April to spite him. It was his turn to fire back. On the following play, he chased down his opponent knowing the football was going to him. As Nurse Rock Star sprung up to catch it, Jackson shocked everybody when he went in for a full body tackle while he was still in midair. Zach landed hard on his lower backside before yelling out in pain.

Jackson stood up, glaring at another nurse who shoved him. "I was going for the flag!" he snapped back.

"Fuck! My tailbone!" Zach shouted, visibly in serious pain.

April ran towards her boyfriend and knelt down beside him. "Is it broken?"

"I think so," he groaned, rolling onto his side while placing his hand where the pain throbbed.

Trevor approached Jackson, trying to hold back his laugh. "Nice goin', Avery. You broke his ass," he quipped and folded his arms as he watched April tend to Zach's injury a few feet away from them. "Lighten up. I know you can't stand him, but it's just a game."

Jackson scowled at Trevor. "I was going for his flag," he sternly said through gritted teeth.

"No, you weren't, bro," the spiky haired brunette insisted. Trevor slapped his roommate's ass, resulting in another glare from Jackson. "A broken tailbone. Wow, you couldn't have just given him a black eye?"

"Shut up," he mumbled. It didn't help that he noticed an icy stare from April. She most definitely wasn't too pleased with him at that moment.

* * *

So it was confirmed. A fractured coccyx for Zach. It would take four to six weeks to heal, barring any complications, and it also meant he wouldn't be working at the hospital for a while. Jackson wanted to feel relieved, but he acted like a douche and April let him know right away.

"You broke his tailbone!" she yelled at her friend outside of Zach's hospital room inside of Mercy West.

"I didn't mean to," he murmured, holding his hands behind his back like he was a child being disciplined for stealing cookies out of the cookie jar. "It was an accident."

"You _broke_ his tailbone!" April repeated, becoming angrier by the second. "And I'm not the most informed person when it comes to sports, but I know flag football isn't the same as tackle football, so you were way out of line, Jackson."

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry," he apologized. "I get too competitive sometimes. I wanted to win."

She shook her head. "You didn't tackle him because you wanted to win. You tackled him because you were jealous."

Jackson forced himself to laugh. "I'm not-"

"I'm not blind anymore! I know how you feel about me. You should've just told me instead of taking it out on Zach."

"What am I supposed to say? If I really wanted to, I could've gone ahead and kissed you dozens of times, but I'm not a sleazy guy. That guy's gross and that's not me. And I was trying to be a good friend by keeping my mouth shut. You're happy, so why ruin it for you? I don't want to be the bad guy in all of this."

"Well, you're certainly acting like the bad guy. Did you see me trying to sabotage your relationship with Rachel when you were with her?"

"You tried to talk me out of my relationship with her, remember?" he replied defensively.

"That's different! I wasn't trying to physically injure her. I didn't fracture her freaking tailbone," she retorted.

"What I did was an accident, alright? I didn't plan to injure your boyfriend like I did. I already apologized." Jackson threw his arms up in frustration. "What else do you want me to do?"

April took a deep breath as she turned away to check on Zach. "Just go home, Jackson," she softly said without looking back.

Walking into her boyfriend's room, she sat down beside his bed as he lay on his side to help ease away the pain on his rear end. She wasn't quite sure what to say to him, feeling embarrassed about what happened at the park. He was in pain, though the large dose of Vicodin provided to him was able to numb him for a good hour or two.

He reached out for her hand and sighed. "You're very loud," he said, half-smiling at her. "And your voice gets all high-pitched and nasally when you're yelling. It's kind of cute."

She sheepishly grinned at him as she squeezed his hand. "I'm so sorry. You weren't supposed to hear any of that."

"No, it's okay. I already knew Avery had a thing for you. It's so obvious."

"Why the hell am I the only person who didn't see it?" she complained. "Reed knew and I'm beginning to believe my whole intern group knew except for me."

"Listen, if you still have feelings for him, then I don't want to hold you back."

April face slowly dropped. "What?" She quickly shook her head. "No, no. I enjoy spending time with you, Zach. Jackson was just a crush in the past. Th-that's done. It's over."

He softly laughed. "No, it's not."

"Y-you're dumping me?"

"We can still be friends and hang out. You know, when the pain in my ass isn't a huge distraction anymore," he insisted. "But I prefer to be with somebody who doesn't have feelings for someone else. It's better to stop now since we're not serious or anything."

She let go of his hand and stared down at her lap. "I can't believe you're letting Jackson get in the way. I thought you were better than that," she replied disappointedly. April got up from her seat and headed for the door. "I… I'm going to let you rest and I'll come visit you tomorrow."

The redhead walked into the closest elevator with a frown on her face. In the back of her mind, she thought she should be happy about Jackson have feelings for her. But she was too upset about how he handled the situation. He was immature and acted like a jerk, in her opinion. And she liked Zach a lot, but her friend scared him away.

April decided if Jackson truly wanted to be with her, he had to prove his worth. She couldn't let him off the hook that easily. Even his attractive looks weren't going to earn him points like they did with every female intern who drooled over him. She was positive he didn't need much effort to woo any woman. His physical presence did that for him.

She wanted to put him to the test and play hard to get.


	9. Mama Avery

**Thank you for the reviews! I wasn't very confident about the last chapter, but I'm glad most of you liked it anyway :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It had been a week since April and Zach broke up, but it continued to sting for the young intern. She finally found herself in a relationship, but it ended unexpectedly because of a jealous friend – and a broken ass. Although she was bitter about the nurse giving up fairly quickly, she stopped by his room until he was discharged from the hospital. They agreed to be friends, but she wasn't sure how often they would be seeing each other while Zach recovered from his fractured tailbone.

And Jackson actually felt guilty for breaking them up. More like, he felt guilty because April was the person dumped and not the other way around. He would have been more relieved if she chose to leave Zach for him, but that wasn't the case. She was also avoiding him, arriving earlier than usual to change before he arrived or taking different routes in the hallways. Maybe he thought it would be easy to seek forgiveness from her, but she refused to even answer a simple text message unless it was related to work.

He carried two cups of coffee down the hallway while he searched for April. It wasn't his turn to buy their morning beverages, but he wanted to fix his wrongs and buying her vanilla soy latte was the first step. He even bought himself the same thing just to understand why she loved it so much. His cappuccino tasted better, but hers wasn't awful.

The pretty boy finally found her hanging around by the lab with Reed as they waited for results. "Hey," he greeted them, holding up the cup of coffee in his right hand. "I bought your coffee."

"Oh, thanks, but…" April faced Jackson and held up her own cup. "I already bought mine. Reed would like some coffee, though."

"I don't particularly like drinking vanilla-" Reed was interrupted by her roommate clearing her throat, then she forced herself to grin as she took the cup from Jackson, who appeared disappointed. "Maybe just this once. Thank you, Avery."

"Don't mention it," he muttered.

There was an awkward pause of silence amongst the threesome. Jackson's eyes focused on April's, while hers stared at her coffee cup. Reed's eyes switched back and forth between her two friends with a smirk on her face. It was amusing how much tension had built up over a cup of coffee. She heard her patient's name being called and received her lab results.

"Well, I'm off," she said, walking away from them and sipping her coffee. "Later, losers."

April sighed as she turned to face the lab technician working inside. "Norman Hall. Do you have the results yet? I don't have all day," she demanded and groaned when she received another vague answer. She had been waiting for almost ten minutes by then.

Jackson stood beside her, quietly sipping his coffee. "My mother's coming next week," he reminded her. "Umm, do you still want to help me?"

"What's in it for me?" she asked, avoiding eye contact with him.

"A friend helping another friend?" He slightly frowned as she shrugged in response. "I understand that you're still pissed at me for pushing Zach away, but I'm sorry. I didn't know he would flat out dump you because of what I did."

"Well, for once it wasn't _me_ scaring the guy away," she mumbled. "That's normally the case for me when it comes to men."

After she got the lab results she had been waiting for, Jackson blocked her path by placing both of his hands against the wall to trap her. He flashed his charming smile as he tried to make eye contact with her. "I… told my mother about you, so she's expecting to see you next week."

April shook her head. "You take pride in hiding your girlfriends, so why should it matter now?" Looking up at him, his bluish-green eyes stared back at her intensely. And his nose was inches away from hers. That pretty boy face was hypnotizing her, but she immediately snapped out of it. "Aha! You're doing that thing."

"What thing?" he innocently asked.

"You! You're doing that… _thing_ with your eyes," she scolded him as she waved her finger in front of his face.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," he replied, slowly licking his lips.

She glared back at him. "Quit playing stupid with me! If you want to impress me, you're going to have to rely on more than your looks, Jackson."

He chuckled. "I still have no idea what you're talking about," he insisted, tilting his head as he smirked at his friend. She refused to look into his eyes again. "I'm just trying to have a conversation with y-"

"La-la-la-la-la-la!" April yelled out while she covered her ears with her hands. "I'm not listening to you, la-la-la!"

Ducking underneath his arms, she started walking away from him. "Not gonna work this time, so stop it. Just tell me when exactly your mom is coming, so I can prepare my fake 'Jackson is the best boyfriend ever' speech."

Jackson smugly grinned as he stared at her backside. "Does that mean you're in?" She lazily waved at him before turning the corner, which was a good enough answer for him. He was glad to have made minor progress with her.

* * *

Apparently, the presence of _the_ Catherine Avery turned out to be a bigger deal than Jackson anticipated. Mercy West sent a limousine to pick his mother up from the airport. Waiting for her outside of the hospital was Landon Phillips, the Chief of Surgery. They were going to kiss her ass for as long as she was in Seattle. Had they rolled out a red carpet for the urologist, she might have been mistaken for an A-list celebrity.

Jackson didn't want any part of her arrival at all. He planned on hiding until he was officially found by Catherine.

Prior to searching for her son, she was given a tour of the surgical wing of the hospital. Various attendings, residents and interns who were familiar with her work watched her in awe as she passed by them. She was dressed for the occasion wearing a slim black dress accompanied by a fur coat as she strutted through the hallways in her red high heels.

"Now where is my baby boy?" she inquired, scanning the area for Jackson when she and Dr. Phillips stopped in one of the lobbies. "Can somebody page him, please? I'm not in the mood for his usual hide and seek game."

Distracting herself nearby with her red notebook at the nurses' station was April, who suddenly grew nervous about the fact that she stood five feet away from Catherine Avery. Her cheeks were turning a bright red and she hadn't even said a word to her yet. She knew almost everything about her career, which either made her a stalker or a very loyal fan. And now, she had to meet her – as Jackson's fake girlfriend.

The redhead nearly yelped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Catherine standing beside her. "H-hi. Catherine A-Avery, I-I I used some of your… research in m-medical school," she stammered, sheepishly grinning at her.

"Oh, really? Why, thank you…" The urologist picked up April's badge to find her name. "Dr. Kepner. Ah! April Kepner. You're my Jackson's lovely lady friend, yes?"

April slowly nodded, continuing to smile at her. "Yes, that's me… the lady friend." She was caught off-guard by Catherine's sudden eagerness to hug her tightly. "It's an honor to meet you too."

The elder Avery pulled back, gently squeezing April's cheeks and examining her from head to toe. "You definitely don't look like any of Jackson's past girlfriends," she noted. "His taste must have changed since moving to Seattle, but you're as cute as a button, April."

"Thank you very much," she mumbled, slightly grimacing because Catherine hadn't let go of her cheeks.

After finally releasing April's face from her grip, she began searching for Jackson again. "You must know my baby boy well. Do you know where he is, honey?"

The intern quickly shook her head. "No, I don't. I think… maybe he's in the middle of rounds… or-"

"Your shoulders seem tense, baby," Catherine pointed out as she grabbed April's shoulders. "Is Jackson not giving you enough lovin' these days? That might explain why you're so tense."

April's eyes widened. "Oh, no. No, no, no. It's not… that," she immediately replied. When Jackson mentioned his mother talked too much she didn't realize he meant she delved into the juicy details. "I'm just tired… and nervous about meeting you."

Catherine laughed loudly and winked at her. "I get it. He's been keeping you up all night then – if you know what I mean," she quipped. "Don't be nervous around me, dear. I don't bite. Has anybody paged Dr. Avery yet?"

A nurse waved at her as she picked up the phone receiver. "I'll take care of that for you, Dr. Avery."

While they waited for the nurse to send a page to Jackson, they all instantly became alert to the sound of a pager going off from behind the counter. The nurse screamed when she noticed him hiding underneath the desk.

Her scream scared Jackson, who bumped the top of his head against the desk. "Son of a…" His voice trailed as he crawled out from his hiding place and stood up, rubbing his noggin. He pursed his lips and smiled at his mother. "Hi, Mom."

Catherine waited for her son to walk around the counter before she embraced him with a hug. "There's my baby boy!" she excitedly announced, kissing his cheek. She pressed her hand against his cheek. "You look pale, sweetie. I told you Seattle was a horrible choice for your skin."

He grabbed her hand and moved it away from his face. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I look the same," he insisted. Pulling April close to his side, he rested his arm against her shoulders. "So, you met April."

"I did and she seems like a lovely young lady," she complimented. "I'm so impressed that you decided to stay away from those… _other_ women. I don't know why you ever wasted your time with them. They were simply after your body."

Jackson cleared his throat, appearing embarrassed about his mother slowly unveiling his past in front of April. There were some things he hadn't told her about – like the fact that he slept with a lot of women in college. He knew he had an attractive body and took advantage of it.

"April doesn't need to hear that stuff, Mom."

"Oh, actually, I'm very interested to know more about Jackson," April insisted, playfully patting her fake boyfriend's chest. She grinned up at him. "Sounds like there are a ton of things I still haven't learned about him yet."

Catherine clapped her hands and chuckled. "Don't worry, April. He hasn't been holding any deep, dark secrets from you. I'm fairly certain he hasn't murdered anybody." She watched her son roll his eyes. "Jackson, quit acting like you're embarrassed to be in the same room as your mother."

"I can't say I'm acting," he muttered, forcing a grin.

"You know what I think is attractive? Guys who are polite to their mothers," April implied, glancing up at him again. "Shows a sign of maturity. I find men who love their mothers to be quite sexy."

Jackson smiled back at her. "I'll keep that in mind, sweetheart," he acknowledged with an annoyed tone. Thinking he might be able to get away with it, he leaned forward to kiss her.

April placed her hand against Jackson's lips and nervously laughed. She shyly bit her lower lip as she looked back at Catherine. "We don't do the kissing thing right now. He… he just got over a cold sore on his lip. I have no idea where he got it from either," she explained.

Catherine folded her arms, raising an eyebrow at her son. "If you're cheating-"

"I swear, I'm not! Uhh, Charles. My roommate, Charles, he… had a cold sore and I accidentally drank from his beer bottle by mistake," he replied, grimacing. "Yeah, it was stupid."

"Baby, you had it checked out, yes?"

Jackson slowly nodded his head. "I work at a hospital. Of course I did."

April's pager went off, which was a relief for her. "Swanson calls," she said, walking away from the two Avery's. Smiling back at Catherine, she quickly waved at her. "It was really nice meeting you, Dr. Avery."

"Don't stay away too long," Catherine advised and pointed her finger at the intern. "You will be scrubbing in on the bladder repair procedure I have scheduled today. It'll give us a chance to get to know each other better."

Jackson shook his head. "Mom, you don't have t-"

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!" April chirped before leaving them alone.

"Please, don't be hard on this one," he begged, resting his hand on his mother's shoulder. "I really like her, so do not scare her away like you did with some of my past girlfriends."

Catherine grinned at Jackson. "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about," she nonchalantly replied. She took his arm and gently patted his abdomen with her other hand. "Now, be a gentleman and show your mother the cafeteria, so we can catch up."

He inhaled sharply before exhaling quickly as he led her to the cafeteria. It was going to be a long three days for him.

* * *

"So that's Avery's mom," Charles said as he watched Jackson and Catherine converse at another table in the cafeteria. He was spying on his roommate with Reed and Trevor. "She's kind of hot."

Reed shook her head and laughed. "Don't even bother, Charlie. She probably won't be too impressed with you whenever you meet. April told me Jackson tried to kiss her earlier, but she covered his mouth and told her he recently had a cold sore. He said he got it from _you_," she teased.

Charles stared at Reed confused. "Did he tell her we made out?"

"Would you be upset if he didn't?" she quipped.

"Shut up," he retorted. "You know Mama Avery's expecting us to cook something up for Thanksgiving? None of us can cook for crap unless the microwave counts. And it's Thanksgiving tomorrow. We need you and Kepner to help us."

"We have work tomorrow. Just hire someone to do the cooking for you like my mom always did," she suggested.

"We'll switch shifts with you," Trevor offered. "Charles and I can switch with you and April, so you two can prepare some real food for all of us. We can't look stupid in front of Catherine Avery."

Reed stroked her chin. "Hmm… let me think for a minute- no." She smirked at the two male interns. "I hate holidays, so I'd rather work. One of you can switch with April since she's playing the fake girlfriend or whatever. She's the holiday lover."

Charles pointed at himself and grinned. "I will gladly switch with April, so I can keep you company," he volunteered, winking at the brunette.

"Oh, please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

At the other table, Jackson pretended to listen to Catherine as she went on a never ending story about how his sisters were faring at Mass Gen. His oldest sister Samantha was a fourth year resident who had already performed numerous solo surgeries under the guidance of their grandfather. She was the heavy favorite for Chief Resident next year. His other sister Joslyn was a third year resident at the same hospital and she was also beginning her share of solos. It was no surprise that both of them already aimed to specialize in Cardiothoracics. It was unofficially the Avery specialty.

It wasn't until Catherine changed the subject did he start to pay attention.

"Tell me more about April, dear," she said, resting her hand underneath her chin and smiling at her son. "How did you two meet?"

"Umm, well… we met on our first day. She's in my intern group," he started, then he quickly shrugged his shoulders. "Aren't you going to grill her during your surgery anyway? That's why you invited her in the first place, right?"

"I want to hear from you too, baby. And I promise I won't be so hard on her. I can already see how tense she is based on her body language," Catherine answered with a smirk. "I hope you weren't having sex with her when you had that cold sore. That can spread like wildfire."

Jackson forced himself to smile at his mother. "No, we weren't having sex," he said, lowering his head and scratching the back of it. "And one more thing, don't talk to her about sex in the OR. April's… certain topics make her uncomfortable. And considering how you lack a filter sometimes with your questions, she will be even more uncomfortable."

"Are you two not having sex at all?"

"This isn't high school anymore. I don't have to tell you anything about my sex life," he argued, shaking his head.

"April will be spending Thanksgiving with us, yes?"

"Uhh… no. She's working."

Catherine dismissively waved her hand. "Don't worry about that. Let Mommy deal with it later," she assured him and gently patted his forearm. "Your girlfriend's having Thanksgiving dinner with us. I already know who she is, so you can't hide her from me anymore."

Jackson softly laughed. "I hope you know the dinner menu is basically… nothing," he admitted. "I mean, I bought a turkey, but you really shouldn't trust me with how it turns out. We're better off eating out in downtown."

"Nonsense. Yours truly will take care of dinner and April will assist me," she suggested. "That gives us even more time to bond. I also have some stories from your childhood I can share with her if you get in my way, Jackson."

"You'll likely share them anyway whether I'm in the way or not," he bitterly said.

* * *

April had a mixture of emotions before she scrubbed in with Catherine. She was excited to be operating with her because it wasn't often a surgeon as widely known as the urologist showed up at Mercy West. On the other hand, she was nervous. She wasn't sure what type of questions to expect from her fake boyfriend's mother, though she was willing to answer almost anything. A good first impression was important to her. Networking with Catherine Avery could lead to a stellar job offer at a highly regarded hospital in the future.

They started with the basics. April talked about where she was from and the schools she attended for college and medical school. She briefly mentioned how she was interested in pursuing neurosurgery because everything about the brain and its functions intrigued her. She shared a bogus story about her first date with Jackson, which sounded believable since Catherine claimed it was adorable. The lengthy discussion with Jackson's mother during the bladder repair was more relaxing than nerve wracking – until she dropped an unexpected bomb.

"You're not really Jackson's girlfriend, are you?" Catherine bluntly asked.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" the intern nervously replied.

"You said your first date with him took place at The Crab Pot and that he accidently cracked pieces of crab into your eye. And that's where I know it's not true. My baby's allergic to crab, dear," she noted, raising her eyebrow at April. "And it's not my intention to offend you, but you're far from his type."

April stared back at Catherine with wide eyes. "I… umm, he- Jackson put me up to this," she confessed.

"I'm surprised he went through all of this trouble when he could have easily told me he was single, which would have been a lot easier than what he's doing with you," the urologist said and laughed. "He must really like you then."

"Sometimes I don't understand why. I didn't know he felt that way about me until _after_ I started dating somebody else." She rolled her eyes. "But the guy I dated broke up with me after Jackson broke his tailbone."

"He _what_?" Catherine immediately gazed up at April. Even though half of her face was covered by the surgical mask, she was clearly shocked by what she had heard. "Bar fight?"

"Flag football," the redhead sheepishly answered. "And he just assumes I'll automatically attach myself to him because I'm single again. I'm not like the other interns who bow down at the sight of him. I'm not as pretty as them anyway."

"Girl, do you not look at yourself in the mirror often?" she jokingly replied.

April shyly smiled behind her surgical mask. "I've never been used to being noticed by guys like Jackson. Honestly, he was my first friend here, but that's all I ever thought I'd be to him. So I finally meet somebody else and that's when he starts to notice me," she explained. "Jackson thinks he can just have everything go his way, but I'm not letting him. I'm forcing him to work hard for me – which is something I've never done before. H-how am I doing?"

Catherine chuckled. "He does seem smitten about you. So much that he warned me not to share any embarrassing stories about him from his childhood. I think you're doing fine, Dr. Kepner." She looked down at her patient again. "Wear something revealing tomorrow at dinner."

"Revealing?" She cleared her throat and sighed. "I actually can't make it to dinner. I'm work-"

"No, you're not. Prior to scrubbing in, I used a little Avery magic on your superior and you're no longer working. Dr. Percy will be taking your shift." Catherine pointed her scissors at April. "The only work you're doing tomorrow is helping me prepare a delicious dinner for Thanksgiving at Jackson's, so remember to wear something revealing to toy with him some more."

"Oh," she softly said, raising both of her eyebrows. "Y-you're not going to tell him you know I'm not really his girlfriend?"

"Does it matter, sweetie? You probably will be soon and I honestly don't mind," Catherine casually responded.

April's cheeks grew warm, though she was relieved her mask covered the faint red on her face. Then she suddenly thought back to when they first met in the lobby. Maybe Mama Avery was the wrong person to ask, but she couldn't help herself. "Umm… Jackson had a lot of sex… with a lot of women?" she awkwardly asked.

"Honey, I don't keep track of his record, but he's a guy," she replied, smirking at her behind her mask. "I noticed you were edgy when I brought up sex. Let me guess. You're a virgin."

The intern softly laughed, slightly shaking her head. "I… am not, but I'd rather not talk about that," she murmured and stared down at their patient. "It's not something I openly talk about with other people."

"You need to find some way to relieve your stress, dear. Whether it's sex or something else, you're way too tense. Pretty soon that stress will catch up to you and it'll reflect on your performance in the OR," Catherine advised. "Just offering a suggestion."

April forced herself to laugh. Of all people, she was receiving sex advice from Jackson's _mother _after only meeting her five hours ago. She may as well have pimped out her son with the way she talked about sex like it was no big deal. Maybe Avery's were open and free to talk about that type of subject, but she sure as hell wasn't.

* * *

Thanksgiving for April normally consisted of being surrounded by at least a dozen family members in Moline and indulging in her mother's home cooking. This year, she was celebrating the holiday with two Avery's and… Trevor. Something about the foursome being together felt dysfunctional, but she figured it was better than not celebrating it at all. She arrived on time to assist Catherine in the kitchen, while the men watched the NFL on TV. Jackson at least offered to help, but his mother shooed him away.

Occasionally, he would glimpse back at the kitchen where he could see April moving around. She wore a casual, sleeveless purple dress that showed off her shoulders. She appeared to have taken Catherine's advice because the slit in the middle was fairly low, which somewhat drove him nuts. He didn't want to look like a pervert in front of his mother by constantly staring at his friend's cleavage. Based on the laughter coming from his kitchen, they were getting along, which was a relief.

Whatever they were cooking smelled amazing. His mother and grandmother were masters in the kitchen, so he had no doubt dinner wasn't going to be disappointing. Pushing himself up from the couch, he decided to check on the two women – and to get another closer look at April's cleavage.

"How's it going in here?" he asked, peeking over his friend's shoulder. She was making mashed potatoes out of scratch. He reached for the bowl to have a taste, but she slapped his hand away.

"Gross," she chuckled. "I don't want to serve this after your nasty finger's been in it. Who knows where it's been?"

Jackson sheepishly grinned at Catherine, who raised her eyebrow at him. "I can assure you that it's clean and not nasty at all." He leaned back against the counter. "Are you two sure I can't do anything to help? Technically, my roommates and I were supposed to do this stuff, so I feel guilty about dumping this on you, Mom. You're the guest. Well, you too, April."

Catherine dismissively waved her hand and smiled. "You know I can't avoid a kitchen on Thanksgiving, baby. Don't feel guilty about this." She placed a hand on her hip. "But what you _can_ feel guilty about is fainting in the OR before what should have been your first solo."

He closed his eyes and pursed his lips. His humiliating moment in the OR was the last thing he wanted to talk to his mother about. "C'mon, I'd rather listen to you tell April an embarrassing story about myself."

"You know who never fainted in the OR? Samantha, Joslyn, your father, your grandfather…"

April noticed the hurt on Jackson's face. While most of the interns had stopped teasing him about his fainting spell in the OR, she suspected his family had a field day over it back in Boston. He likely wouldn't hear the end of it whenever he decided to show his face in his hometown again. Unlike her, he hadn't been awarded the opportunity to scrub in to kick ass surgeries like she had. She thought his epic fail in front of their coworkers partially ruined his chances.

Grabbing his hand, she soothingly rubbed the back of it with her thumb. "He was ill, Dr. Avery," she chimed in. Exchanging a quick glance with Jackson before she softly smiled at Catherine. "The hospital wanted to show him off because of his name and… they couldn't care less about his health. It was awful. I think he deserves another chance. I'm sure he'll nail it."

"Hmm… I suppose I can speak to somebody about this before I leave tomorrow afternoon," Catherine suggested. "My baby boy didn't turn down a spot at Mass Gen to be shafted here in Seattle. You know, your grandfather continues to reserve your space for you. Maybe you should consider moving back home after your internship."

Jackson shook his head. "That's nice, but I don't want to be like Sam and Jos, following yours and Dad's footsteps because it's the Avery thing to do. Plus, I like it here in Seattle. I don't need to worry about you guys pestering me all the time about everything."

"We just want what's best for you, baby."

"But whatever I do is never the best according to Grandpa's standards," he complained. "He already thinks I'm a failure by not choosing Mass Gen for my residency."

"No, he doesn't. He just doesn't understand why you would turn your back on tradition. To be honest, I don't either."

Before Jackson could counter Catherine's argument, the oven's buzzer rang. "Turkey's ready!" April chirped, letting out a sigh of relief. She hated being caught in the middle of the battle between Mama Avery and her baby boy. "Uhh… Jackson, do you mind?"

Jackson nodded as he scowled at his mother. "No problem."

* * *

"I'll see you in the morning, sweetie," Catherine said, kissing her son's cheek before climbing into a taxi. "Oh, and April's much better than all of the past ex-girlfriends I met. Don't be a fool and let that one go. And don't break any more tailbones either!"

"Uh huh. Goodnight, Mom." Jackson waved goodbye to her as the taxi drove away. He furrowed his eyebrows when her last comment finally hit him. April told her about him breaking Zach's ass. He chuckled to himself as he started walking back into his apartment building.

In the lobby, he spotted her preparing to leave. She fastened her coat and placed her hands inside of the pockets. "So, that was… interesting," she said with a smile. "Your mother's boobs were definitely the main attraction for Trevor."

"Umm, yeah. Don't want to talk about my mother's boobs," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "What you did earlier, covering for me when my mom asked about the fainting crap… thanks. I wasn't sure how to talk my way out of that. She doesn't know about my ordeal with cameras."

April quickly shrugged. "That's what friends are for," she cheerfully said.

Jackson smiled back at her. "Are you sure you're okay going home alone? I don't mind driving you," he offered. "Well, you know I don't mind doing _anything_ with you."

She softly laughed and shyly bit her lower lip. "I drove here, but thank you."

He groaned. "When will you go out with me?"

"When you ask me out on a date," she answered, smirking at him as she walked past the pretty boy. "I don't know about you, but I'm a fan of old fashioned romance. It's really not that difficult, Jackson."

"Alright, then…" He turned around with a grin on his face. "Next Friday night? Me and you. We'll go somewhere nice and it'll be a date. I'll do all of the planning and you just have to sit back and relax."

April looked back at Jackson and playfully smiled at him as she walked outside. "Maybe." She giggled after he rolled his eyes in response. "Goodnight."

"Tease," he called out and laughed.

Even though she was obviously messing with him now, he appreciated the progress they were making. The April he met on their first day of work probably wouldn't have been so playful with him. She would have been timid and too shy to even look at him. Their friendship had grown a lot over the course of a few months.

He was confident they were headed towards the right direction.


	10. (Best) Worst Date Ever

**Hey, all! I'm sorry it took long for another update, but I was having a hard time continuing this fic. Lack of motivation was killing my writing mojo and I even thought about dumping it altogether. However, with a little bit of encouragement from some buddies I decided to stick with it. Anyway, sorry again for making you wait longer than the time it takes to usually update :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Taco Time. April and Jackson were sitting across from each other and quietly eating their cheap tacos – in their soaked dress attire. Her hair remained dripping wet after they walked through the torrential downpour, her makeup partially ruined as well. He had loosened his navy blue tie and hung his dripping wet coat over the back of a chair, to the dismay of the employees working in the nearly empty fast food restaurant.

And their tacos tasted like crap. Even the ones from the taco truck across from Mercy West were more enjoyable than the tacos he forced himself to eat. They were both starving. It was a desperation move.

After he brought them to the wrong restaurant.

After his car was towed.

After the clouds opened up and decided to drench them with rain.

Everything that could go wrong came true. Now here they were, appearing pathetic and wet while the only sound coming out of their mouths was the crunching noise from chewing on their tacos. Jackson had gone out of his way to make a lasting impression on April and it was the polar opposite of how he hoped their first date would turn out. It was the first time, based on his past experiences, that the date was a major bust.

And to eventually have dinner at Taco Time officially marked it as the _worst date ever_.

* * *

_One day ago…_

Reed punched in the corresponding buttons and watched her bag of sour cream and onion flavored potato chips drop from its holder. "C'mon, April. Ugly sweater party. We have to host one," she insisted, bending over to retrieve her bag of chips from the bottom of the vending machine.

"But why an ugly sweater party? I don't think I have any ugly sweaters," April stated before scrunching her face as she stared at her roommate. "Wait. Are you trying to tell me I have sweaters that I think are cute, but are actually ugly?"

"You've never been to an ugly sweater party, have you?" she replied, smirking at the confused redhead. "It's December, which means it's almost Christmas. The anti-holiday girl in me always indulges in these types of parties. They're fun! We'll go buy some really stupid looking sweaters together."

April slowly shrugged her shoulders. Having gone through an embarrassing fashion phase in high school, she knew a thing or two about ugly clothes, except she thought they were cool. In retrospect, she regretted a lot of her fashion choices. An ugly sweater party would only remind her of her teenage years, but at least they would all appear ridiculous together.

"Oh, fine. I guess we should throw some sort of party since we haven't done so yet," she agreed. "When do you want to have it?"

"How about we aim for next Saturday? That should give us enough time to shop and plan." Reed had been eager to ask April a burning question, which she knew would make her uncomfortable, but she wanted an honest answer. "So… would it be alright to invite Zach?"

"Sure, why not?" April answered nonchalantly. "We're still friends. I heard he's walking around with a cane now."

Reed slightly nodded her head as she ate her chips. "Well, the reason I'm asking is because… do you think he'd go out with me?" Her roommate's reaction was just as she expected. April opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "I figured since you're kind of with Jackson – or whatever game you're still playing with him – it's been a few weeks since you and Zach broke up. I wanted to ask you first if you'd be okay with me possibly dating him."

"I… guess it's not a big deal. Although, I'm not dating Jackson," she corrected her. Since Thanksgiving, she had been doing a lot of teasing and playing mind games with the pretty boy. "I don't know. He might be getting sick of me playing hard to get. There hasn't been a mention of a date or anything."

"Maybe he's surprising you."

"Or maybe I'm playing _too_ hard to get," she replied dejectedly. "Have I been doing it right? I mean, do you think I pushed him away? I don't usually do this with men. Actually, I _never_ do this with any men because there aren't any men to play hard to get with…"

Reed leaned back against a wall, munching on her potato chips as April continued another one of her rambles. She learned quickly how to pretend she was listening when in fact, she wasn't. That didn't necessarily make her a bad friend. She did take the time to listen when the conversation was important. But hearing about Jackson was now as important as what she planned on having for lunch.

_Just get together already!_ The voice in her head screamed out whenever April began second guessing herself about their male friend. If they didn't start dating soon, she was going to lock them in a room together until the faint sounds of moaning and groaning could be heard from outside in the hallway.

"…and that's why he's likely avoiding me now," April finished her long explanation. She caught Reed carelessly sifting through her bag of potato chips causing her to frown. "You weren't listening, huh?"

"Nope," her roommate casually admitted and held out her bag of chips. "Want some?"

April rolled her eyes in response. Of course Reed couldn't care less about her relationship woes since she was more concerned about being her ex-boyfriend's rebound – not that it should bother her too much. Or maybe it should because boyfriend number one apparently married the woman he moved on to after her. At least, that was what she had heard from an old college friend. What if Jackson wasn't the right person for her? Then what? Her roommate might possibly be with the man she currently still had some feelings for and she could end up alone.

But she knew Jackson had feelings for her and he hadn't been hiding it. Although, the pessimist in her was waiting for the moment he realized how uninteresting she was. Other than sharing a love for medicine, they barely had any common interests. And why would he suddenly find her attractive? He certainly didn't before when she overheard his conversation with the other interns in the locker room. He said she was weird. In high school, guys like Jackson never found the weird girl hot or worth dating.

And thoughts like those were what killed her self-esteem. She promised herself she would stop overanalyzing everything, but Jackson was supposed to be the type of man she could never get not the one who is surprisingly crazy about her.

"April!"

She turned her head to the sound of Jackson's voice calling out her name. He approached her with a smile on his face and a little swagger to his step. What was he so chipper about?

Hands in his lab coat pockets, he stopped in front of her. "Tomorrow night. I made reservations at Il Bistro for dinner. It's fancy and romantic, so wear something nice. No excuses. You're going. I'll pick you up from your apartment at seven. It'll be a first date you'll never forget," he confidently stated before walking away from her.

"Wait a minute! I don't get a say in any of it?" she called out to him.

"Nope! It's a date!" he replied without looking back.

Reed chuckled to herself. "Il Bistro, huh? Never been there myself, but I heard it's a tone setter. Hey, maybe he's setting himself up to get laid tomorrow night," she teased.

April gazed back at her with wide eyes. "Is that true?" she whispered, slightly panicking.

"Relax. It's your first date. He clearly wants it to be romantic and meaningful. I bet he never did something like this with Rachel."

"That's because she never let him and always did what she wanted to do. It doesn't mean he never thought about taking her out on romantic dates," the redhead insisted.

Reed waved her arms. "Screw Rachel. She's the past and Jackson couldn't give a crap about her anymore. It's all about you now," she reminded her. "See? He _was_ planning a date. He just wanted to catch you by surprise."

"But I didn't even officially answer him."

"Please, you would've said yes," Reed replied, adding an eye roll. "You've forced him to wait long enough. It's time, April, and you're going to have an unforgettable time because this is the moment you've been waiting for since you met him. Seize the moment and wear something sexy!"

April sighed. "But I don't exactly have anything… _sexy_. I've been borrowing your clothes," she whined. Her roommate groaned and walked away from her, forcing her to chase after her friend. "I'll seize the moment! I promise!"

* * *

_Date night – 7 PM_

Jackson stood outside of April and Reed's apartment. Wearing a white dress shirt, a navy blue tie and black pants with a matching colored jacket, he quietly paced back and forth with his hands inside of his pockets. He should have been knocking on the door instead of acting like a scared teenager going out on his first date, but he thought he may have already made a mistake by not buying her flowers. The women he used to date never cared for them, so they slipped his mind.

"Hey, April. You look freaking gorgeous," he muttered to himself before he quickly shook his head. "No. A little classier, Avery."

He was nervous. Normally, he was a smooth operator and knew how to win over his date instantly. April made him feel different. He felt obligated to impress her without his usual tricks – the charming smile and hypnotizing her with his bluish-green eyes. Mainly because she refused to succumb to his pretty boy looks easily. And he found her mind games endearing. All the more reason to take her out on a fancy date and prove how much he cared about her.

Stopping in front of the door, he took a deep breath and closed his hand in front of his face. "Calm down, loser. It's just a date not a marriage proposal," he whispered, then he knocked on the door.

A minute later, the door opened. April appeared wearing a salmon colored strapless dress that cut off just above her knees and black heels. Her hair was down, slightly curled. And not only did the bright red lipstick catch his attention, but so did her very visible cleavage. He blamed the white gold necklace hanging just above it.

"Holy… shit," he breathed, realizing he said it out loud. Jackson noticed the puzzled expression on April's face and cleared his throat. "I mean, you look amazing. You're… you're beautiful."

"You look really handsome yourself," she shyly replied as she stepped out of her apartment. In one hand was a black hand bag and in the other was her coat. "So… I guess we should get going."

He offered his arm and she happily grabbed a hold of it. Reed watched them from the doorway with a mischievous grin on her face.

"You bring her home by midnight, young man," she teased, lowering her voice to sound like a protective father. "And if she doesn't come home at all, I'll be hunting you down with my shotgun."

"Shut up," Jackson retorted, looking back at their friend with a smirk on his face.

He brought her to his car, opening the door for her and helping her inside. Tonight, he was going to be a gentleman. Every little gesture could mean a big deal to her, so he planned on taking advantage of every opportunity to impress her. Getting into the driver's seat, he smiled at her while he attempted to start the ignition. Technically, it wasn't his car but Charles'. It was an old BMW, but it also wasn't the most reliable vehicle either.

"Hang on a second," he nervously said as the engine huffed and puffed without any luck. "Seriously, just a second."

April nodded and patiently waited. She sensed his apprehension based on the sweat beginning to form on his forehead. And she thought _she_ would be the nervous wreck. Reed had spent a good hour ensuring her hair would look perfect for their date. She tried on at least fifteen different dresses to wear until they finally agreed on the one she currently wore. When Jackson knocked on their door she felt nauseous, but her own nerves vanished after he appeared completely infatuated by how made up she was. And he looked pretty damn sexy in a suit too.

"Son of a bitch," Jackson mumbled under his breath before the car cooperated with him. He flashed a grin at April as he pulled into the street. "And we're rollin'."

She giggled at his enthusiasm. "Reed tells me the restaurant you chose is really popular."

"That's what I heard too. I was supposed to take Rachel there once, but we never left her apartment," he chuckled until he realized how inappropriate the comment was. Side eying April, she didn't appear amused. Her pursed lips and the fact that she was staring out the window forced him to mentally punch himself in the face. "I- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine," she softly said, tucking strands of hair behind her ear.

Jackson shook his head. "No, it's not fine. There's no excuse for talking about my ex-girlfriend to you," he insisted and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "God dammit, Avery. You're such a moron…"

April raised her eyebrow at him as he scolded himself. "Do you always think out loud?"

"What?" He briefly glanced at her and sheepishly smiled. "Sorry again. Pretend you didn't hear anything."

"So did you hear we're throwing an ugly sweater party next weekend?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I did. Am I invited?" he playfully replied.

She shook her head and smiled. "Nope. No pretty boys allowed. You're gonna have to find the ugliest sweater in the world to cancel out your face."

He softly chuckled. "Or maybe I should wear my sweater _over_ my face, then maybe you won't be so distracted by it."

"Who said I'll be staring at your face at the party?" she teased. "Other people will be there too. I might not even notice you."

Jackson pretended to stab his chest with a closed fist and grimaced. "Ouch." He smirked at April. "You're a mean person, you know that? I think you're lying about being the girl nobody noticed. You were definitely the school bitch."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Uh huh. I bet you were the geek who buffed up in college then?"

He proudly nodded. "You got me."

They spent the car ride poking fun at each other to lighten the mood. Heavy traffic in the downtown area slightly dampened Jackson's spirits, though. Their reservation was at 7:45 and they had ten minutes to arrive at the restaurant before their table was given away. He miscalculated the time and distance thinking they would arrive in the allotted cushion he gave himself to drive there. But he grew up in Boston. He was a city kid. However, he didn't expect the traffic in Seattle to be as bad. A lesson learned along the way.

Fortunately, he found a parking space on the street close to the restaurant. They had about two minutes to walk inside and confirm his reservation. It was a packed house and the waiting area was crowded. On a Friday night, it was unsurprising. He approached the hostess with a smile on his face.

"Hi, reservations for Avery at 7:45."

The hostess skimmed the reservations list before looking up at Jackson confused. "I'm sorry, but you're not listed here. Are you sure your reservations were made for tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I called in on Monday," he insisted. This was _not_ what he needed to happen, especially in front of April. "Could you check again please?"

"Sir, are you at the right place?"

"This is Il Bistro on Pike, right?"

The woman smirked as she slowly shook her head. "No. This is Il _Fornaio_ on _Pine_," she corrected him. "You're definitely at the wrong place. If I were you, I'd make the quick drive down to Pike before you lose your reservation."

Jackson frantically checked his watch. It was 7:47 PM. Without traffic, driving down to Pike Street would take a few minutes. Unfortunately, the traffic hadn't improved when they arrived, so it could take even longer. By then, their reservation would be snatched up by a couple who did show up at the right restaurant.

Leaning forward close to the hostess, he frowned. "I don't think we'll make it in time. You see, I'm trying to impress my date and so far, I'm looking like a huge idiot," he whispered. "How long would we have to wait for a table here?"

"Forty minutes," she regretfully answered. "We're booked tonight. I'm sorry, but I can call Il Bistro and try to keep your reservation for you. Just give me a minute."

He let out a sigh of relief. Maybe there was still hope to save their date. Looking over his shoulder, April awkwardly smiled back at him. He was hesitant to admit to her that he screwed up. If he hadn't miscalculated their arrival time, he wouldn't have rushed them out of the car and into the wrong restaurant. Pike, Pine. Why the fuck did those street names have to be so close together? And why the fuck did those two restaurants have to be named almost the same?

Then again, he could only blame himself for not being observant enough.

The hostess returned her attention back to Jackson. "They're willing to give you an extra five minutes to make it there. After that, they'll release your reservation."

"Five minutes? Have you _seen_ the traffic outside?" he irritably asked.

"You better get a move on, sir," she replied nonchalantly.

Jackson inhaled sharply as he turned to face April. "C'mon, we gotta go," he sternly said, grabbing her hand. He led her out of the restaurant feeling more embarrassed than ever. "I uhh… brought us to the wrong place, but the real restaurant is only a few minutes away."

April nervously laughed. "It's alright. Will we make it in time?"

"Let's hope so."

As they walked back to their parking space, Jackson's eyes widened when he noticed a tow truck taking his roommate's car away. "Oh, shit! Hey!" he yelled out, leaving April behind as he ran after the moving vehicle. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

But it was too late. The car was towed, moving farther and farther away from him.

April realized the problem immediately. She considered herself to be very observant of her surroundings, but perhaps Jackson's need to make it in time – to the wrong restaurant – distracted her from seeing the expired parking meter they neglected to pay. Seattle apparently took unpaid parking seriously because they had only been gone for less than ten minutes.

"Jackson," she called out to him and pointed at the parking meter. "We umm… forgot about this."

He approached her with a blank stare on his face. First, he forgot to buy flowers. Now, he forgot to pay for parking. "I guess we're walking," he stated disappointedly. "At least it's not too far away. If we walk fast, we can still make it."

And the sound of thunder startled both of them. Within seconds, the clouds opened up as rain began to pour down on their heads. The weather report said it was supposed to rain around midnight. It arrived about four hours too early. Neither of them carried umbrellas with them, which added salt to Jackson's emotional wound.

The rain slowly soaked their clothes, forcing him to remove his jacket and hold it over April, despite already covering herself with her own coat. "I'm almost a thousand percent certain that somebody high up above hates me," he declared as he escorted her down the sidewalk. "We're screwed."

She softly smiled at him. "It's… it's going to be okay. Try to remain positive."

"Maybe if it wasn't pissing down rain right now," he bitterly replied and gazed up at the dark sky. "I just wanted the perfect date! Is that too much to ask for?!"

"Jackson, calm down."

"Well, I'm sorry for being upset about ruining our entire night," he retorted. The torrential downpour already drenched his clothes and partially hers. "This night sucks. I hate downtown Seattle and I _hate_ Pine street!"

While they waited to cross the street, a car sped through a puddle and splashed both of them. Jackson hoped to at least spare April's outfit by keeping it as dry as possible, but that plan was officially botched. She stared down at the dirty water covered dress with wide eyes. Reed was likely going to kill her when she returned home.

"This night is just getting better and better," the pretty boy sarcastically said.

* * *

_Ten minutes later…_

"Oh, c'mon! We're cold and wet and we're freaking starving!" Jackson yelled at the hostess of Il Bistro. By the time they arrived at the correct restaurant, their reservation was gone. Another lucky couple took their table and waiting for a new one was going to take almost an hour.

"Sir, you need to lower your voice," the hostess ordered. "I'm sorry you were late, but there's nothing we can do now."

April stood nearby partially covering her face with her hand. Her friend's rant in front of concerned bystanders was embarrassing. As if her ruined appearance was bad enough, Jackson sounded like he was ready to shoot up the restaurant if they weren't seated soon. She appreciated him for trying to set up a perfect first date, but now he was making a fool of himself.

"Sir, you're going to have to leave before we call the police to escort you out," the hostess warned. "Find another place to eat dinner. You're disturbing our guests."

Jackson scowled at the brunette woman behind the podium. He raised his clenched fist and opened his mouth to speak, but he changed his mind and walked outside into the pouring rain. April chased after him, growing tired of being left behind _again_. She neglected to cover her head with her coat since she was completely soaked already.

And she thought her first and only date with Toby Harris during her sophomore year of high school was a disaster. He was a science nerd like her and while she wasn't interested in him romantically, she didn't want to be a terrible friend by rejecting him after he asked her out. So he brought her to the movie theatre – more like his mother drove them there – to watch a special screening of _Return of the Jedi_. He spilled heavily buttered popcorn all over her new jeans, but he received the worst end of the date. At the Tastee Freez, the senior jocks thought it would be entertaining to pick up poor Toby and introduce his nards to the nearby flag pole. Twice.

He transferred schools and she never heard from him again.

Now she stood outside in the downpour with her arms folded, watching her date act like a nuisance. Jackson had been taking his aggression and frustrations out on the defenseless trash bin. He kicked and kicked and kicked as hard as he could at it, while shouting every known profanity in the human language. This definitely wasn't the gentleman who picked her up earlier. More like a whiny brat.

But she also empathized with his anger. He had been waiting to go out on a date with her and well, the feeling was mutual. He wanted everything to be perfect for her. And it wasn't often she had the opportunity to date a man like him. Why couldn't this have happened on their third or fourth date?

"Jackson, could you please stop acting out?" April pleaded as she approached him. "I'm sorry your plans went to Hell, but beating up a trash can isn't going to solve your problems. You'll probably only break a toe or something."

"I can't help it, alright?" He threw his arms up in frustration. "We're standing in the rain, in our good clothes, like a bunch of losers! This date was supposed to be the best night of your life and what do I have to show for it? Nothing! We don't have a car, we don't have a place to eat dinner and I forgot to buy you fucking flowers! I don't go out of my way this much for a woman. This is the least impressive date I've ever been on."

"Are you done?" she impatiently asked.

"Done with what?"

"Are you done complaining? What's not impressing me isn't how huge of a fail this date is but your attitude really sucks. You acted like a jerk to that hostess. It's not her fault we were late, okay? I don't want to be with a guy who turns into an ass whenever he doesn't get his way."

Jackson pouted as April walked past him and followed her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find a place to eat. I'm hungry," she answered without looking back at him.

"Well, I'm going with you," he said, catching up with her and standing by her side. He covered her shoulders with his jacket. She was visibly shivering. "I'm sorry for being an ass. I just feel like such a major letdown right now."

April slightly smiled at him. "You don't have to take me out to fancy dinners to impress me, Jackson. You already do that by actually thinking I'm worth dating."

Jackson shook his head. "You're never going to stop thinking so poorly of yourself, huh?"

"Why? I'm just telling you like it is."

He stopped her at the corner of the street before she could cross. Cupping her face with his hands, he smiled at her. "I like you because you're loyal and selfless and… you keep me grounded. Plus, you're freaking hot, April. Even when you don't think you are you're hot. And I know this because I check you out in the locker room when you're not looking."

She raised both of her eyebrows. "You do?"

"I've been doing it for a couple of months now, but that's not the point," he answered and chuckled to himself. "I care a lot about you, more than I thought I would when we first met. Also, if I don't do this now, I might go nuts because I've been wanting to do this for weeks."

"Do… _what _exactly?"

Without any warning, he leaned forward and kissed her. She was initially surprised by the move, but she gave in and returned the kiss. He kissed her passionately, making sure it was going to be a first kiss she would never forget. Her soft lips tasted a bit like cherry from her lip gloss. He didn't want to stop kissing her. She was a damn fine kisser herself. And he loved her fingers digging into the back of his neck and his head. If something positive came out of their failed date, it was the hot and unexpected kiss in the rain.

She finally pulled away from him, her eyes remaining closed. It was a mind blowing kiss. Best first kiss _ever._

"Holy…" April never finished her sentence. She mumbled a bunch gibberish, which made Jackson grin. He was confident nobody had ever kissed her the way he just did.

Jackson slipped his hand into hers, interlocking their fingers together as he led her across the street. For a brief moment, he was going to forget they were on a very unpleasant date. He hoped their first kiss would cancel out all of the crap they had suffered in about an hour and a half.

* * *

_Present time – 9 PM_

Maybe he should have brought her home after the kiss because choosing to eat at Taco Time was an awful decision. None of the other restaurants would allow them to dine in their soaked attire, so they had no choice but to eat at a fast food joint.

_"Whatever you do, do not go to Taco Time," Charles warned him before he left._

His roommate didn't exactly explain why, but now he understood. Sitting back against his seat, Jackson covered his mouth and burped. It wasn't a fulfilling dinner at all and April's face agreed. He picked up his jacket from the chair as he stood up.

"Ready to go?" he softly asked.

April nodded as she took his hand and stood up. Thankfully, the rain had stopped for the time being, but they opted to hail a taxi. Both of their apartments were too far to walk from where they were anyway. The car ride to April's apartment was quiet, yet soothing. He let her rest her head against his shoulder as he gently rubbed his hand up and down her arm. The date was terrible, but he couldn't stop thinking about their kiss. He wanted to kiss her again, despite the nasty Taco Time breath they both likely had now.

He walked her to the front door and sighed. "Glad it's over?"

She shyly shrugged her shoulders. "I kind of wish it wasn't for a specific reason."

"There's always next time," he suggested, sheepishly grinning at her. "I promise it won't be so crappy like tonight. We might even be safer relaxing on the couch and watching a movie. Seattle's a bitch."

"At least I enjoyed one thing tonight – and it wasn't the tacos," she quipped.

Jackson placed his hands against her lower back as he moved in closer. "Yeah? I may have an idea which part you're talking about, though," he softly said, inching closer to her lips.

But April pushed him away. She scrambled for her apartment key and unlocked the front door while she covered her mouth with her hand. Flinging the door open, she startled Reed as she ran inside and straight for the bathroom.

Reed jumped up from the couch and looked at Jackson, who stood in the doorway. "What the hell happened? And why are your clothes so wet?" She grimaced as the sounds of her roommate gagging echoed from the bathroom. "Oh, God. What did she eat?"

Jackson uncomfortably slid his hands inside of his pockets. "Taco Time," he muttered.

"Were you trying to kill her?!" she retorted. Approaching her friend, she playfully pushed him outside with a smirk on her face. "She'll be using that bathroom for a while, Avery. You better come back tomorrow – if you're not a victim of Taco Time too."

"Hey, wait a second-" He groaned when Reed shut the door in his face. So not only did he take out April on a shitty date but he also gave her food poisoning. He began regretting not taking her home after the kiss. At least the night would have ended on a better note.

* * *

The following morning, Jackson walked into the living room carrying his sneakers in his hands. He planned on visiting April as soon as he woke up, but he also had to track down Charles' car and bring it home. Based on the few text messages they exchanged, she was miserable and he felt guilty. She developed a fever the previous night and spent most of it with her head in the toilet. Their first kiss turned into the Kiss of Death.

"Taco Time. Wow," Charles chuckled from the dining table as he ate his breakfast. "You got balls, Avery. Didn't I tell you not to take her there? _And_ you got my car towed. Maybe you Avery's get free passes in Boston, but here in Seattle, you gotta pay for your parking."

"Kiss my ass. I made a mistake and forgot to pay," his roommate angrily replied while he sat on the couch to tie his shoes.

"And you poisoned April," Trevor added, sharing a laugh with Charles. "How is she anyway?"

Jackson finished tying his shoes and stood up. "That's what I'm about to find out." He smugly grinned at his two roommates as he prepared to leave. "And you can crap on me all you want, but if April's not dead, we're definitely going out again. Suck it, losers. I think I have a girlfriend."

"Remember to get my car!" Charles called out.

"You mean, your piece of shit car," he sneered before he left the apartment.

April was his priority, so Charles' beat up BMW could wait for him – wherever it was. He rode a taxi to a flower shop first, buying a small gift for her to make up for not doing so last night. Then, he was dropped off at her apartment. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

Reed answered the door and immediately gazed down at the yellow daises in one of Jackson's hands and a small teddy bear dressed in a yellow sweater with a happy face on it in the other. She fought back her laugh as she invited him inside. "You didn't kill her if that's what you're thinking," she teased.

"Well, that's a relief," he sarcastically replied. "Is she awake?"

"Barely. Her puke fest dehydrated the life out of her, but she'll feel better soon. I snatched up an IV bag from the hospital and that seems to be helping a lot," Reed explained. "She's in her room, so go ahead and check if she's asleep."

"Thanks," he acknowledged as he walked past his coworker.

"That's a stupid looking bear, by the way," she pointed out.

"Not as stupid looking as your face," he countered, laughing to himself when Reed cursed at him. Gently knocking on April's door, he slowly opened it and peeked his head inside. "April?"

Her bedroom was quiet. She lay on her side underneath the covers of her bed. He couldn't tell from his angle if she was asleep, so he walked inside. Closing the door behind him, he approached her bed and his presence appeared to wake her up. An IV was attached to the back of her right hand. Her skin was paler than usual, which almost made her look like a woman on her death bed.

"Hey, Jackson," she murmured, pulling up her blanket just below her eyes. "I look terrible."

Jackson smiled and shook his head. "No, you don't." He set the vase of yellow daises on her bedside table. "I uhh, got you flowers. Some lady told me to get these, so I hope they're alright."

April slowly nodded her head. "I love them. Thank you."

"And I got you a little bear. Grrr." His cheesy attempt at a growl made her laugh. Kneeling down on the floor, he reached out to pull away the blanket from her face. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better, but I'm still queasy."

He placed his hand on her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "I'm sorry for suggesting Taco Time. I'm even more sorry that you're the only one out of the both of us who got sick," he guiltily said. "I'm sure that was a date you'll want to erase from your memory."

"It… wasn't the worst date I ever had," she reluctantly stated. Jackson stared back at her unconvincingly and she playfully rolled her eyes. "Okay, it _was_ the worst date I ever had, but nobody ever kissed me the way you did last night. Consider it the _best _worst date ever."

"So… do you mind if I squeeze in?" He happily grinned when she scooted back on her bed to make room for him. Quickly kicking off his shoes, he carefully climbed into her bed hoping to avoid nauseating her with his movements. He lay on his back before pulling her close against his chest. "Are you comfortable?"

April smiled as she rested her arm across his abdomen. "Very." She giggled when he tickled her nose with the teddy bear. "Don't make me laugh too hard. I might throw up on you."

Jackson used his free hand to run his fingers through her hair. "It's okay if you do. I deserve it."

"How long are you staying here?"

He kissed her forehead and smiled. "As long as you want me to."


	11. Ugly Sweater Party

**Thank you for the support, folks! I'm trying to get back in the groove of updating this sooner and I really appreciate your feedback :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

April changed into her scrubs in the interns' locker room with a smile on her face. Since her somewhat unsuccessful date with Jackson a week ago, she had been on cloud nine. The gorgeous man with the hypnotic bluish-green eyes was now her boyfriend. She wasn't dreaming anymore.

Jackson Avery: boyfriend. Her sisters wouldn't believe her if she had told them who she was currently dating. Maybe Alice would because she was aware of her older sister's crush on the pretty boy. She was the only sister April trusted with her secrets. Libby would likely claim any picture she had of Jackson came from a modeling website. And Kimmie would agree as she worshipped the oldest Kepner daughter.

But she wasn't planning on bragging to them yet. They had only been together for a week. She never did tell anybody but Alice about Zach. She wanted to be absolutely sure she and Jackson could last more than a month before finding a way to introduce him to her parents. There was a high chance they would like him. He respected her more than any man ever had. So far, she hadn't found anything horribly wrong with him. A small temper, but not towards her. He surprisingly didn't push her to have sex with him considering he was a horndog with Rachel Lawson. Then again, he seemed to know her better than he knew his ex-girlfriend. It wasn't rocket science to figure out that the topic of sex made April uneasy, for whatever reason.

Reed was convinced her roommate was a virgin, but April denied it every time. She could understand why the redhead would be embarrassed to admit it because it seemed everybody around her was comfortable talking about or having sex except for her. From what she could remember in her red notebook, there wasn't anything written inside about whether or not she was a virgin. While she wrote personal thoughts and information in her red notebook, her sex life wasn't one of them.

Facing her locker, an arm extended over her shoulder with a coffee cup in her hand. "Good morning," Jackson's voice greeted her from behind. She happily accepted her soy vanilla latte from him. "I thought I'd get our coffee a little earlier than usual."

"Aww, thank you," she chirped, turning around with a bright smile on her face. "Just what I needed."

"You could've fooled me at _five in the morning_," he quipped before leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips. Jackson was hardly a morning person compared to his girlfriend, but seeing her face woke him up more than his cappuccino did. "So how ugly will your sweater be tonight?"

"Reed forced me to buy this red sweater with white snowflakes and a giant gray cat wearing a Santa hat on the front," she answered, rolling her eyes. "She must really hate the holidays since she'll be wearing a sweater with Christmas lights that actually light up."

Jackson chuckled and placed his palm against a locker just beside April's head. "Well, if you ever want to take a break from the party, we could always hang out in your room and I'll gladly help you remove that sweater," he smugly suggested. "Your door does have a lock, right?"

She couldn't think clearly due to the touch of his lips against her neck. Just when she thought sex wouldn't be a huge deal for him he dropped that harmless bomb on her. "Y-yeah, but… don't you think it would be rude to skip out on my own party?"

"You won't be ditching it completely, April. I just want to spend some time alone with you."

"B-but it'll be _loud_. There's nothing romantic about sex at a loud party," she hesitantly replied and bit down on her lower lip. She hated how awkward she acted whenever sex was brought up, but awkward was a part of her personality.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Do you want to talk about anything? You can trust me. I won't make fun of you if you're a virgin."

April closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm not a virgin, Jackson," she whispered, despite nobody else around in their aisle. She pressed her hand against his chest. "I don't- the locker room's not an appropriate place to talk about this."

"Were you raped?" he bluntly asked.

"No!" she gasped in shock. "If I was, I would be in therapy for the rest of my life. I can't believe you just asked me that!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm trying to understand why sex is such a touchy subject for you."

"Not everyone's open about sex like you are," she retorted. "I don't just take off my clothes for every guy who thinks I'm hot or whatever – not that there were a lot of them, but you know what I mean."

Jackson instantly felt like an ass for offending her. He probably shouldn't have asked her that question out in the open where anybody could have been listening to their conversation. That last thing he wanted to do was make April uncomfortable, especially when it appeared she was ready to cry. Sometimes he lacked sensitivity with his girlfriends and he reminded himself his current one was definitely the sensitive type with many insecurities.

He tenderly kissed her forehead. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I insulted you."

"It's fine," she softly said before she sipped her latte.

"And for the record, I'm not with you for the sex. You're more than that to me," he assured her and smiled.

April smirked at him. "I think you're a serial killer. You're too… perfect sometimes," she jokingly replied. She handed him her coffee cup, so she could wear her lab coat.

Jackson watched her stuff her red notebook inside of her pocket before he gave back her latte. "So, am I allowed to read what's in there since I'm your boyfriend now?" he asked curiously.

"Nice try, but no." She grinned at him as they left the locker room together. "It's off-limits to everybody's eyes and that includes yours. Don't even try to steal it. I'm not kidding."

"Oh, alright. I'll be a good boy."

They met up with the rest of their group, who were waiting for Swanson in the lobby. For the first time, the interns had arrived before their resident. One or two of them always showed up after her, which resulted in tons of scut work for the day.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or is Swanson late?" Charles grinned widely. He was certain he couldn't be scolded this time for not arriving on time like the others. "Does this mean she'll be assigning scut to herself?"

"Well, if she still decides to drop scut on somebody it should be those two," Reed said as she pointed at April and Jackson. "They came last, so they lose by default."

Her roommate shook her head. "None of us are getting scut. We deserve to be scut free today."

Swanson appeared a minute later. "Morning, guppies," she muttered. The blonde resident was visibly in a bad mood, which worried her five interns. It probably didn't matter if they were all early. "Sorry for running late."

"Umm… everything alright, Dr. Swanson?" Reed politely asked.

"No, everything's not alright," her boss sternly answered. "My roommate abandoned me and moved out while I was here working last night. She kept babbling about how our apartment was too far away from Seattle Grace. She wants in on the best surgeries by arriving at work as early as possible, so I told her to go live in their basement if she's that desperate. Apparently, she took my advice seriously and fled."

Trevor kindly smiled at Swanson. "You can't say she's not hardcore about being a surgeon," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "She's a freaking ortho resident. You can't tell me that's more hardcore than cardio. Whatever. I'm more pissed off about having to take care of the rent by myself until I find another reliable roommate."

Charles approached her and gave her hug. "I'm sorry your roommate's a bitch."

"Oh, get off of me, Percy!" Swanson glared at her intern as he returned to his original place. "I'm not in the mood for your ass kissing today. You've got rectal exams in the outpatient center. Kepner and Adamson, suture duty in the ER. Avery and Stanley, you're with me. That's all for now. If I need the rest of you, I'll page you. Other than that, leave me alone."

April exchanged amused glances with Reed as Swanson marched down the hallway. Both Jackson and Trevor didn't appear too thrilled to be following around the third year resident. "Good luck, you two," she teased.

"Well, if we don't show up at your party tonight, it means Swanson murdered us and buried our bodies in the woods," Jackson humorously warned her. He gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you later – maybe."

Reed nudged April with her elbow as they headed for an elevator to go downstairs to the pit. "That guy is so freaking head over heels for you. I bet he'd do anything you ask him to."

"He's not my lap dog. He's my boyfriend. I won't treat him the way Rachel did," she insisted.

"And how are you _not _eager to see him naked?"

"Is sex that big of a deal to everyone except for me?" April asked in annoyance as she walked inside of an elevator with her roommate. "And before you say it – I'm not a virgin."

Reed softly laughed. "You know, the more you claim you're not, the more I think you are. Why won't you just confess and tell me you're a virgin?"

"Because I'm not!" she snapped. "Boyfriend number one. His name was Garrett and I regretted it big time. That's all I'm going to tell you."

"Why, what happened? Did he die?" her roommate jokingly asked. April scowled at her with her arms folded. "Fine, fine. That was mean, but you're really not going to tell me?"

April let out a sigh of relief when they arrived at the ER. "Nope."

Reed groaned as she followed the redhead out of the elevator. "I'll find out sooner or later, April. I'll force it out of you if I have to."

* * *

Reed was determined to successfully host the ugly sweater party she had been planning for a whole week. She couldn't care less about the fact that she and April had been awake since four in the morning. Her annual ugly sweater party was her version of celebrating Christmas. Maybe it was growing up with a family who hadn't been very enthusiastic about holidays that made her so anti-holiday. April couldn't understand how anybody hated Christmas or any holiday for that matter, but at least her roommate allowed her to decorate the living room with some Christmas lights.

Many of their guests were interns. About half were surgical interns, while the others were specializing elsewhere at Mercy West. A chunk of them were Reed and Charles' friends from medical school. And there was exactly one nurse present – Zach. April felt embarrassed being around him even though they agreed to be friends. A quick greeting and then she scurried off to hide in the kitchen. Fortunately, Jackson hadn't arrived yet to increase the tension. Working with Swanson turned out to be a blessing in disguise since he and Trevor had the luxury of scrubbing in on a quadruple bypass surgery with their resident and Dr. Martin, so they were running late.

April watched Reed and Zach converse with each other from the kitchen. They appeared to be hitting it off, though they were already sort of friends before when she was dating Nurse Rock Star. She partially hid her face with the red cup in her hand while she simultaneously listened to a new friend talk about himself.

His name was Brad Parker. He met Reed and briefly dated her during their first year at U-Dub. Now he was an intern at Mercy West and focusing on internal medicine. He seemed like a nice person, not that April had any interest in him. But she felt guilty about ignoring him as she continued to spy on her roommate and ex-boyfriend.

"So, if you're not busy anytime soon, maybe we could… go out sometime?" he inquired.

"Huh, what?" She quickly shook her head and smiled. "Oh, umm… sorry, I can't. I have a boyfriend… who is not here yet, but he's coming."

"Well, damn," Brad sighed, flashing a disappointed smile. "This boyfriend of yours, is he worth it?"

April shyly nodded and grinned. "Our relationship is still very new, but yes. Yes, he is." She heard faint knocking on the front door. Reed was too busy flirting with Zach to notice more guests had arrived and the loud music also distracted her. "Excuse me for a second."

She left the kitchen to answer the door. She hoped it would be Jackson, but instead it was Charles – decked out in a yellow and black sweater that resembled Charlie Brown's shirt, which made her laugh.

"What?" Charles looked down at his sweater. "It's ugly and it's a sweater."

"I know, but… did you bring Snoopy and Linus with you too?" she quipped.

"Uh huh, laugh all you want, but Reed will think this is pretty awesome," he insisted as he entered the apartment. "Don't you get it? She's always calling me Charlie. She never calls me Charles. Maybe if she gets the joke, she'll think it's… I don't know. Adorable?"

"You have a thing for Reed?" the redhead asked gleefully.

Charles covered April's mouth his hand. He scanned the living room for anybody who might have overheard their conversation. He brought her to a more secluded area – the bathroom.

April stood by the toilet after he closed the door behind him and locked it. "I'm uncomfortable," she muttered.

"I'm finally going to tell her," he started with a grin on his face before he announced, "I'm going to tell Reed I love her. Tonight is the night I'm gonna grow some balls and tell her how I feel. And it doesn't matter how stupid I look because everybody looks stupid at this party."

"Oh, that's... sweet," she hesitantly responded.

"You think it's a bad idea?" He pointed at himself. "I've been in love with this woman since med school. I'm tired of my balls shrinking whenever I'm around her. I have to do it now or I never will."

"You're right, but as your friend I should probably warn you that Reed's busy trying to hook up with my ex-boyfriend."

Charles groaned. "Nurse Rock Star? She'd rather be with that dork than a kick ass surgeon like me?"

"Hey! You didn't think he was a dork when I dated him," April replied defensively and folded her arms. "And we're barely surgeons, so _kick ass_ is a bit of a stretch don't you think?"

"He walks with a cane," he added.

"Because his ass is still healing!"

"Which _your_ now boyfriend broke over a jealous rage." Charles leaned back against the door and pouted. "Zach's not that impressive, right? I get that he plays the guitar and the drums, but I play a mean bass. Dudes who play the bass don't get enough respect, in my opinion."

April shrugged her shoulders. "I can't say he isn't a sweetheart because he really was," she admitted. "And he never pushed me to have sex with him or make me feel any pressure about having sex with him. Why can't all guys think that way? Some of you guys do it because it's the macho thing to do, but I always thought sex should be romantic and beautiful…"

And another ramble was enough for Charles to want to leave her alone in the bathroom. It wasn't just Reed who had to endure the perky intern's verbal essays. By then their entire group was used to them, but they didn't necessarily love listening to them either. After the first few sentences, her words typically morphed into the incoherent sound the adults spoke in the old school Peanuts Gallery shows.

Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha.

"…doesn't that make sense to you?" The door opening and closing shook her out of her own world. Charles had ditched her in the bathroom. She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Jerk."

Returning to her living room, she spotted the taller, non-bald version of Charlie Brown approaching Reed and Zach. April instantly felt bad for him because he would likely be shot down or his balls would shrink yet again. She decided to stand nearby to offer moral support for her friend.

Charles stood behind Reed and cleared his throat to interrupt her conversation with Zach. She spun around and immediately burst into laughter when she saw his ugly sweater.

"Charlie! Oh, I get it! Charlie Brown!" She poked at his chest as she obnoxiously giggled at him. "You look ridiculous."

"Isn't that the point?"

"Yeah, but… Charlie Brown. You know, he was kind of a loser," Reed reminded him. "I'm sure you're aware of that."

Charles nervously laughed. "Uhh, yeah." He nodded his head at Zach. "What's up, Jacobs? How's your ass?"

"It's better. Thank you for asking," the nurse awkwardly replied. He looked past Charles' shoulder and saw April turn around and hide her face when they made eye contact. "Umm, excuse me."

Reed rolled her eyes when Zach walked away from them. Charles grinned widely, forcing her to slap his arm. "I was on a roll with him, you moron!"

Meanwhile, Zach lightly tapped April's shoulder. She put on her brightest smile before she turned back around to face him. "Are you having a nice time?" she asked and pointed at the Santa hat on his head. "That's a really cute hat, by the way."

He softly laughed. "You've been avoiding me."

"Have I?"

"Well, when you say, 'Hi', and then practically run away afterwards I'm pretty sure that's avoidance. So, what is it? Too cool to be hanging out with a guy who needs a cane to walk?"

April shook her head. "Oh, no. It's not that at all. I'm… dating Jackson now," she said and gently bit down on her lower lip while she fidgeted with her red cup. "I just don't want things to be weird when he's here."

"Things don't have to be weird. I mean, I don't have to talk to him and I know he's not gonna want to talk to me. That's fair." He sighed. "But I hope you're happy. I _want_ you to be happy. I was always kind of second best after him, right?"

"That doesn't mean I was only with you because he wasn't available. I had no idea he even had feelings for me until after he- well, I found out at the flag football game… _before_ he broke your tailbone."

"It's funny how you were practically the last person to find out," Zach teased. "Even I eventually realized why he hated me. I just didn't want to say anything because why should I? As painful as it was to break up with you, it was the right decision. Just stop avoiding me like we had a bad break up, April."

She forced herself to laugh, brushing back strands of her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry. From my past experience, the dumper completely forgot I existed nor have I ever had my ex and my current boyfriend in the same room before," she replied. "I don't know what I'm doing sometimes!"

"Just relax," he advised, adding a friendly pat on her shoulder. "I'll stay out of his way as long as he does the same, okay? No worries."

After her ex-boyfriend returned to his conversation with Reed, April plopped down on the couch. She checked her watch impatiently. The party had been in full effect for more than an hour and Jackson wasn't there. She understood that quadruple bypass procedures could take hours, but she wanted to be with her boyfriend. They hadn't seen each other since that morning in the locker room. Or maybe he was too tired from work and stayed home, she thought. But he would have called her or sent her a text message if he changed his mind about coming.

Charles sloppily sat down beside her and sighed. "Hey, can we like makeout in front of Reed for a few minutes to make her jealous or whatever? Jackson doesn't have to know."

"Are you kidding me?" She pushed herself up from the couch, tossing her empty red cup onto his lap. "Didn't I warn you, Charlie Brown?"

He watched his coworker leave, then he slouched on the couch and frowned. "Good grief."

* * *

Jackson sat down on the bench in front of his locker feeling exhausted and relieved. Exhausted because he had been at work five more hours than he was supposed to be, but he was looking forward to seeing April. The surgery lacked any complications and it was just what he needed to get his future cardio career started. Dr. Martin trusted him to handle the harvested arteries retrieved from the patient's leg until the cardio surgeon was prepared to graft them to the coronary arteries. They were transferred safely, so he completed his job without any embarrassing mishaps. He finally scrubbed in on surgery he could brag about to his family even if he hardly did anything. Cardio was cardio to the Avery's and he was just an intern, so they would cut him some slack.

"Ready to go, man?" Trevor asked after he closed his own locker. He stood behind his coworker and pointed at his sweater. It was green with dancing reindeer on it. "What do you think of my sweater? Cool?"

His roommate turned his head to check out his party attire. "It's ugly, bro."

"Yes!" He celebrated with a fist pump. "But the dancing reindeer. You think I'll get laid tonight because of them?"

"Hmm… yeah- no, probably not," Jackson answered with a smirk. "Nobody gets laid at an ugly sweater party."

"You say that now, but you're the one with a girlfriend… _again_," Trevor reminded him. "I know April's on the shy side, but how can she say no to you? I mean, if I was a chick, I'd do you."

Jackson faced forward as he removed his scrub top. "And this conversation suddenly got really weird." He threw his orange garment inside of his locker. "Anyway, April seems to have her own beliefs about sex. She's all about romance and not straight up hot sex. She says she's not a virgin, but I don't know if she's being honest about that."

"So if she's a virgin, would you be alright with that?"

"I'm not with her for the sex. If I have to wait to have sex with her, then I'll wait – as long as it doesn't take me a year to sleep with her," he shamefully confessed. "I'm a guy who can't _not_ have sex. I just can't. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Trevor chuckled. "Yeah, when you can have all of the sex you want why not take advantage of the opportunity?" He started walking out of the locker room. "I'll meet you by the car, dude."

Jackson stood up, so he could finish changing out of his scrubs. He sent April a text message telling her he was on his way to her apartment as he left the locker room. Walking inside of an elevator, he met up with Swanson, who was by herself in her street clothes. She appeared ragged and pissy. It was a long day for her as well.

Swanson snickered at her intern's bright yellow sweatshirt with the Los Angeles Lakers logo on it. "Lakers fan?"

"No. It's for an ugly sweater party," he answered.

"I think you misunderstood the basic rules for an ugly sweater party. The yellow _is_ a little too bright for my taste, but shouldn't you be wearing something a little more Christmas-y?"

Jackson grinned at his resident. "I'm a Boston Celtics fan, so anything Lakers is ugly to me," he proudly stated.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense. I grew up in Chicago. Huge Bears fan and I know a thing or two about heated sports rivalries," she explained. "I hate the Packers more than anything else. None of you five better be Packers fans or else I'm going to have a hard time playing fair."

"I don't think any of us are." He smiled at the blonde. "I never thought of you as a big sports fan."

"Not exactly. Just a big Chicago Bears fan." Swanson smiled back at Jackson. "You're an okay guy, Avery. When I heard an Avery was coming to our hospital I thought you'd be an arrogant asshole, but you're not so bad. You're still kind of a loser for fainting in the OR. However, I'm sure you'll find a way to make up for it."

"Well, I'm glad you changed your mind about me."

"And I like that you're looking into Cardiothoracics. We should get drinks at Schmo's sometime and talk about that. Maybe do more than talk," she suggestively added.

Jackson raised both of his eyebrows in surprise. Was his superior hitting on him? He shifted uncomfortably as the elevator reached the main lobby. They both stepped out together. She seemed to be waiting for an answer from him since she matched his pace and walked alongside him.

"I… I can't. I have a girlfriend," he murmured.

Swanson sighed playfully. "Of course you do. A guy like you can't stay single for long." She tugged on his sweatshirt, pulling him towards her just outside of the hospital entrance. "But for what it's worth, I can get you into the best cardio surgeries. Can your girlfriend do that?"

Jackson slowly inhaled and exhaled after the third year walked off to her car. He never expected his resident to be the kind of person who would bend the rules to favor one intern over the others. Swanson always came off as a rule follower and an overachieving doctor who appreciated hard work over lazy asses. The last thing he ever expected from her was sex for surgeries.

He did have his share of flirting his way to better grades at Harvard, though. He didn't do it often as he was an excellent student-athlete, but once in a while, he forced himself to work his magic with his pretty boy looks. After he graduated from medical school, he promised himself he wouldn't cheat his way to the top no matter what. If he wanted to be the best in his field, he was going to work for it. Despite being spoon fed throughout their entire lives, his sisters were hard workers, so they were able to defend their arrogance. He couldn't quite do that yet.

He quickly shook his head, dismissing Swanson's offer. There was a party to go to and a girlfriend to finally be with.

* * *

Reed answered the door and drunkenly grinned at Jackson and Trevor. "You are super duper late, boys," she greeted then, her voice slightly slurred. "Come on in."

Both men entered the apartment. It was crowded with more people arriving as the time passed. Of course, Jackson immediately searched for April in the sea of doctors. He couldn't find her anywhere.

"Where's April?" he asked, nearly shouting at Reed due to the loud music taking over the living room.

"Oh, I think she's hiding in her room. Wanted to take a nap or whatever," she yelled into his ear and pointed at Charles, who was passed out on the couch while two other partiers drew on his face. "You might have to take his ass home later. He's plastered. So much that he's snoozing away now."

Jackson nodded, forcing a smile. "Cool. I'll go check on April."

He politely pushed his way through the living room and walked to April's bedroom. Quietly entering her bedroom, he found her sleeping peacefully on her bed. He wondered how the music hadn't disrupted her sleep, but they had been awake since before sunrise, so she had a reason to be knocked out. She lay on her side, snuggled up against a lavender pillow. Her red sweater was hanging from her desk chair. He softly chuckled at how tacky it looked. His girlfriend was asleep in a white tank top and jeans. And she looked cute.

Slipping out of his shoes, Jackson climbed onto the bed. Instead of gently nudging her to wake her up, he decided to do it the Prince Charming way. He was certain she would appreciate being woken up by kisses from her boyfriend. He started at her shoulder, moving his way up to her neck, then to her chin and her jaw line. She stirred in her sleep, but not enough to wake up. So he finally kissed her lips, which seemed to do the trick.

April's eyes fluttered open as she stretched her arms over her head. She was slightly caught off-guard when she saw Jackson hovering above her. "Oh, you're here," she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "How was the surgery?"

"Interesting. Too long, but it's not often you get to scrub in for a quadruple bypass." He smiled as he dipped his face into her neck and lightly gnawed at it. She squirmed underneath him when he hit her apparent sweet spot, a little known fact he discovered during a makeout session in her bedroom a few days ago. "Call me cheesy, but I missed you today."

"It's okay. I missed you too."

He moved back up to her lips, kissing her passionately. His hand slid underneath her tank top, traveling upwards along her side. She seemed to be fine with it until his fingers reached the bottom of her breast. That was when she rolled off of the bed in a panic, landing face first onto the floor.

"Whoa, April." Jackson crawled towards the edge of the bed. He helped her up from the floor, then he sat up. "What's the matter? We weren't going to have sex if that's where you thought I was going."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" April placed her hands against the back of her head as she paced back and forth in front of her boyfriend. She had a feeling he likely thought she was nuts. "I don't know why I'm such a spaz. I can't believe I- you deserve better, Jackson. You really do."

"Calm down," he soothingly ordered, grabbing her wrist and forcing her to sit down beside him. "Just tell me the truth. I'm not going to laugh at you or think any less of you because you're a virgin."

She groaned in frustration, burying her face into her hands. "I'm not a virgin!"

"Well, I don't believe you," he stated. "Unless, you can convince me otherwise. If your first time was awful, I'm pretty sure you're not the only person in the world to have crappy sex. It's not really something to be ashamed about."

"I had a pregnancy scare," she mumbled against her palms. "But that's not entirely why I'm so freaking paranoid about having sex with somebody."

There wasn't much of a point in hiding her reasons from him anymore. They weren't going to have a successful relationship if she wasn't completely open and honest with him. She also thought she was slowly pushing him away like she did with other potential boyfriends in the college.

April moved her hands away from her face and frowned at Jackson. "Have you ever been in love or thought you were? You know that can't eat, can't sleep feeling and you put your entire trust into that significant other?"

"Maybe once, but I'm not really sure it was love." He slightly grimaced. "I'll be honest with you. Settling down isn't in my current plans at the moment. A lot of girlfriends came and went, but I can't say I missed them all."

"Oh, umm… I'm not ready to settle down either. We're still young and our surgical careers are just starting," she agreed. "But I did make the mistake of thinking I was in love with a guy. My first boyfriend, Garrett. I was eighteen and a naïve freshman at Akron. He was the sweetest guy I met. We were dating for about four months when he said he loved me, so I thought he meant it. I couldn't find a reason why he didn't."

"And what happened?"

"So… one night we decided to take that step and have sex," April continued, nervously playing with the hem of her tank top. "And you know me, I'm all about safety precautions. I thought we were fine. Then, I was like ten days late and I thought maybe I could be pregnant. When I told him he flipped out and said he didn't want to have any part of it because he refused to be a teenage father or whatever. I hadn't even taken a pregnancy test yet and he already blew me off. All of a sudden, he became this douche I hardly recognized."

"I uhh, took a test of course and even went to the hospital for a blood test to be absolutely sure. After I found out I wasn't pregnant, I went to Garrett's dorm room to tell him and hopefully, make him feel stupid," she recalled and laughed to herself. "You know what he was doing when I got there? He was screwing some other girl. Also, he was cheating on me the whole time. Ever since then I've had trouble trusting people, especially men. Boyfriend number two broke up with me because I wouldn't have sex with him. So if you're hoping I'll give in tomorrow or next week, then you should just break up with me now. This whole week of dating was fun while it lasted."

Jackson shook his head. "I'm not breaking up with you," he assured her, rubbing her knee with his thumb. "Those guys you dated sound like a bunch of assholes to me. I already told you this morning that I'm not with you for the sex and I meant that. Whenever you're ready, okay?"

April slowly nodded. "I never actually told anybody about that before. None of my sisters or my friends in college. They all probably assume I'm still a virgin." She sadly smiled at Jackson. "I kind of wish I was. If I knew my first time would result in something so humiliating, then I wouldn't have done it. I'd take back my virginity in a heartbeat if I could. Save it for someone who _does_ love and care about me."

He was beginning to understand why she was so damn insecure. Whoever this Garrett guy was, he hoped he would never meet him because he would most likely knock him out with one punch. Her self-esteem issues went back as far as grade school, but losing her virginity to a man who pretended to love her was the biggest blow. And he couldn't blame her for having trust issues after being cheated on in the past.

She just wanted to be loved. He wasn't sure if he would be _the_ man to love her, but he didn't rule it out either.

* * *

After the party officially died down and the guests started to leave April and Reed's apartment, Jackson and Trevor offered to help them clean up before they went home. Charles continued to sleep on the couch, though his face was covered with ink. By the time they finished cleaning up, it was one in the morning. Most of them had been awake for almost a full 24 hours. They were all thankful to be off from work the following day.

Trevor grunted as Charles' weight pressed down on his back while he wrapped his roommate's arm over his shoulder. "Holy shit, this guy's a whale," he complained, dragging his fellow intern slowly towards the door. He briefly took a glimpse at Jackson, who was busy giving April a very long goodnight kiss. "Some help would be fuckin' awesome, Avery. Before my back breaks in half."

"In a minute," he answered against his girlfriend's lips.

Since her confession earlier that night, his feelings had grown stronger for her. Something about her innocence and her obsession with old fashioned romance was attractive to him. And he appreciated her honesty. It wasn't the most comfortable conversation for her, but at least she opened up to him.

"Avery! Let's go!" Trevor impatiently shouted from outside of the apartment.

Jackson sighed as he finally pulled himself away from April. "I will see you tomorrow," he softly said, sneaking in one more kiss before running out of her apartment to catch up with his roommates. He assisted Trevor with Charles, holding his other arm over his own shoulder. "I guess I'll drive his car and you take the other one home."

"You and Kepner have sex in her room? The way you were kissing her, it was like you gave her the best sex ever… or maybe it was the other way around," he jokingly suggested.

"No, we didn't have sex. And no, I'm not disappointed."

"Wait a few months, then get back to me," Trevor scoffed.

As the two men somewhat carelessly dumped Charles in the backseat of his old BMW, the sound of a gun's safety unlocking alerted the both of them. Jackson and Trevor quickly turned around to see a man with a hood over his head aiming his gun at the them.

"Give me the keys, your wallets, everything," the man demanded.

Trevor didn't hesitate to obey his orders, emptying out his pockets within seconds. Jackson started to do the same until he suddenly lunged at the man. He was a former football player, splitting time between wide receiver and safety. Who was this guy kidding? They both fought for the gun, tussling on the ground.

And then shots were fired.

* * *

**So yeah, I decided to change it up a bit and not make April a virgin :P And yes, Callie was Swanson's roommate lol.**


	12. Battle Scar

**Thanks for the reviews! Well, based on the latest interviews we got from Sarah Drew, it sounds like we'll be getting a bunch J/A stuff this week and next. Anyway, even if you're disappointed with their SL (and I am), at least they're together in Mercy West world lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Two shots. Jackson heard exactly two shots from the gun he fought the mugger for. After the second gunshot, he felt a stinging pain on his left bicep. He quickly turned his attention to the blood dripping out of his ripped sweatshirt sleeve, which gave the unknown attacker enough distraction to push himself up and run away. Whoever the man was, he probably never dared to cross the pretty boy surgeon again.

He squeezed his wounded arm and winced in pain. As painful as it was, he partially removed his sweatshirt to check if there was a bullet lodged in his bicep. To his relief, it appeared the bullet had only grazed his arm. Enough to leave an open flesh wound, though. He had been so occupied with his own injury that he briefly forgot about his roommates.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" he asked, turning around.

But one of them wasn't alright. Trevor was sprawled out on the ground in front of him, clutching the dark red spot on his chest. The bullet that grazed Jackson's arm found a home in his roommate's chest. He was still conscious, but he was visibly beginning to doze off.

"Oh, shit!" Jackson scrambled towards Trevor while he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed 911 as he cautiously turned him onto his side to check if the bullet came out. No exit wound. "Trev, hang on, man. I'm getting help."

Charles continued to snooze in the backseat of his car. He was knocked out cold, which infuriated Jackson because it meant he had to attempt to keep Trevor alive with one good arm. If his roommate wasn't helpless, he would have ran back to April and Reed's apartment for help.

"Hello? Yeah, I need an ambulance ASAP! My friend's been shot!" he shouted at the dispatcher on the other line.

Jackson was a doctor, but he felt useless. He was just an intern and he wasn't quite prepared to deal with on the field trauma like this one. And he was injured as well, so he had difficulty keeping his head straight. Trevor's eyelids were slowly closing, forcing him to slap his roommate's cheek. "Stay awake! Don't fall asleep on me!"

All he could really do was wait for the ambulance and hope Trevor would make it to the hospital alive.

* * *

April literally had to drag Reed along with her into Seattle Grace Hospital. Her own roommate was drunk and not in the best condition to walk without falling flat on her face. She was about to finally get her much needed rest when she received a call from the emergency room. Another doctor informed her of what happened. Friends were wounded during an attempted robbery. One was rushed into an OR. Of course, she panicked because the details on _who_ got shot weren't provided.

She couldn't care less that she was dressed in a white tank top and pink pajama pants decorated with white rabbits nor did she care about the mismatched tennis shoes she wore after blindly searching for them in her dark bedroom. After throwing on a navy blue zip up hoodie with the University of Akron's logo printed on it, she ran into Reed's bedroom to wake her up. Her roommate was barely awake by the time they left their apartment.

They entered the ER where a few nurses and doctors immediately stared at them curiously.

"What's up, bitches!" Reed greeted them, lazily waving and laughing at the confused staff members.

April grimaced as she sheepishly grinned at them. "She's drunk," she insisted. The embarrassed redhead found an empty wheelchair to sit Reed on, then she gently patted the top of her drunk roommate's head. "Uhh, you wait here and I'll find out what's going on."

She scanned the area for Jackson and let out a sigh of relief when she spotted him receiving treatment on one of the hospital beds. Rushing towards her boyfriend, she gasped at the bloody wound on his arm. "Jackson, are you okay?!"

He nodded as he hugged her with his free arm. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a flesh wound, but… Trevor got the worst of it," he sadly replied. "He's in surgery right now for a GSW to the chest. He was still breathing when we got here, but I don't know anything else."

"An-and Charles? Where is he?"

Jackson pointed over April's shoulder at a closed curtain. She swiftly opened it to find Charles asleep on the bed beside them with an IV attached to him. "He's indisposed at the moment. Well, since we left your apartment," he answered in annoyance. "Did Reed come with you?"

"Yeah, but she's…" She glanced across the room at Reed, who was slumped over in the wheelchair and sleeping. "She's indisposed as well. What happened to you guys?"

"Some asshole tried to mug us when we were getting ready to drive home," he started to explain, briefly wincing as the female doctor beside him injected him with an anesthetic. "I decided to fight him because he was kind of smaller than me. We were wrestling on the ground when the gun went off. A bullet nicked my arm and hit Trevor. The guy ran away after that."

April furrowed her eyebrows, unimpressed by Jackson's apparent act of heroism. She began slapping his good arm multiple times. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could've been killed, Jackson Avery!" she angrily replied.

"Avery, huh?" the Seattle Grace doctor intruded. "As in the Harper Avery Award? You're not the brightest of the bunch, are ya?"

"Don't assume I have no idea who you are, _Grey_," he retorted. Jackson smirked at Meredith when she rolled her eyes at him. April scowled at him as she tightly gripped his hand. "You uhh, want to loosen up that grip? I think you might break my hand."

"I'm going to see if I can find out any information on Trevor," she sternly said before storming off to the nurses' station.

Meredith chuckled as she stitched up Jackson's wound. "She's feisty."

"Hardly," Jackson muttered, softly laughing to himself. "Or maybe I just hadn't seen her feisty side yet. She's normally perky and sometimes neurotic. This side of her is pretty hot, though. You'd think she'd praise me for kicking a mugger's ass, but nope. She's more pissed about the fact that I could've died – and I got my roommate shot."

"You didn't get him shot on purpose. Who knows? That man might have shot you both after taking your stuff," she speculated. "So, you're all surgeons too?"

"From Mercy West, yeah." He sighed and shook his head. "And we still end up here because Seattle Grace is a Level I Trauma Center. Our resident's gonna have a hissy fit over this. It's bad enough you steal a lot of our patients. Now, you're stealing us doctors too."

Meredith shrugged and smiled. "Don't blame me. I can't help it if my hospital is better than yours," she teased. "Maybe you should transfer. We wouldn't mind stealing an Avery either. At least you'd take some attention away from me. Everybody wants to know about my mother. How close are you to Harper Avery?"

"He's my grandfather," he answered unenthusiastically. "Where's your mom now?"

"She's… traveling," she slowly replied.

"Hey, can you do me a favor and make sure Dr. Webber doesn't find out I'm here? He's friends with my mom and if she finds out that I sort of got shot, she'll book the earliest flight out from Boston and try to lure me back home," Jackson explained before he rolled his eyes. "She doesn't think I can take care of myself out here."

"So far, you seem to be doing a decent job. You're not dead yet," Meredith responded with smirk.

At the nurses' station, April was frustrated with the lack of information she got from the nurse on duty. She wanted to find out Trevor's status, but the updates were either vague or worthless. While she waited for somebody to give her a decent update, she overheard a couple of doctors gossiping about Jackson nearby.

It was the blonde, Dr. Stevens was her name from April's recollection, and the pathological liar, George O'Malley. She hoped neither of them would recognize her from where she was standing. Based on their conversation, they both remembered Jackson. Of course they would. Who could forget his gorgeous face? Hers blended in with everyone else.

"I think Mer's flirting with McPretty," Izzie suggested as she watched Meredith and Jackson from afar. "It would make sense, you know? Derek's back with Addison and McPretty is by far the hottest man I've ever seen, so why not? Maybe he should be McHotty instead."

George looked back at Izzie disgusted. "You're McGrossing me out."

She gestured her hand towards the pretty boy. "Seriously, George. If you were a gay man, wouldn't you want to sleep with him? He's a perfectly crafted gift from God," she added and grinned. "Why didn't Mer cut his shirt off?"

"Because his injury doesn't warrant shirt removal?" he replied irritably.

"I wonder if he's single."

"He- he's not," April blurted out from the nurses' station, ducking her head immediately afterwards. She couldn't deny the fact that Izzie was an attractive woman. Even in her baby blue scrubs, April thought she already looked ten times better than she did in her pajamas.

Both interns turned their heads towards April. George approached her and smiled. "It's you again. Wh-what brings you to the ER this late at night?" he nervously asked. "You need help with anything? I-I'm Dr. O'Malley. Uhh, George O'Malley."

April blankly stared at him. "Yes, I know." She glanced back at Jackson. "While my _boyfriend_'s receiving treatment, I'd really love somebody to find out if my other friend hasn't bled out in the OR."

"McPretty's your boyfriend?" George groaned as he walked away from her and grumbled, "Son of a bitch."

She rested her forehead against the counter, feeling more frustrated than ever. At Mercy West, her coworkers were always on top of everything and had answers ready for those seeking them. "_We_ should be Level I," she mumbled to herself.

* * *

Once Jackson's injury was finished being treated, they were escorted to a waiting room. Charles had finally woken up from his deep, intoxicated sleep. However, he quickly became friends with the toilet in the men's restroom. Reed remained passed out in her unofficial wheelchair, which April was forced to push around. Jackson's bandaged arm was in a sling to stabilize it for precautionary reasons. He quietly sat in the waiting room, while his girlfriend wandered off to ask for any updates on Trevor.

He worried for his roommate, though he wasn't particularly as close to him as he was to Charles. Trevor was a little mysterious. He rarely talked about home or his family. Always a smooth talker with the female nurses and interns at work, Jackson never did see him bring anybody home. Maybe he just went home to their place instead, he thought.

April returned with two cups of coffee. Any hope for either of them getting sleep was slim to none. Trevor had been in surgery for almost two hours and both of them had now been awake for at least 23 hours.

"Any updates?" Jackson asked. She shook her head and handed him one of the cups before she sat down beside him. Despite the crap he recently endured, April appeared more exhausted and restless than he did. "You can sleep on my shoulder if you want. I don't mind staying up."

"No, I want to be awake when he's out of surgery."

"Not even a 15-minute power nap?"

"I'm okay, Jackson." She faced forward and sipped her coffee. "I have to stay awake. I'm the only person here who isn't shot or intoxicated or puking in the restroom."

He scrunched his face in confusion, trying to figure out why she was still pissed at him. "I'm fine, April. You don't have to be upset anymore. My injury is just a scratch compared to what happened to Trevor."

"So, do you want me to congratulate you for not taking a bullet like he did?" she sneered.

"What do you want me to say? Sorry for not getting shot?" Jackson sarcastically replied. "I feel like shit about Trevor taking the bullet, but if I hadn't done anything, that asshole might have shot the both of us. And I'm not going to just back down to idiots like that guy. I'm not a pansy."

"Still, what you did was very dangerous," April argued.

"Yes, I know and I apologize. I acted on impulse without thinking about what could have happened, but the worst case scenario didn't happen."

"Yet," she corrected him. "Until we know Trevor's alive and well, the worst case scenario is still possible. Did you even speak to the police about this?"

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, but they were here and gone way before you arrived. There wasn't much to tell them about the guy. The lighting was dim and all I could remember was a black hood over his head. Not exactly the most detailed description, so they were pretty much useless," he explained disappointedly.

"Well, we should call his parents. They should know their son's in the middle of surgery after getting shot."

He slowly shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have their number on me. Trevor doesn't talk about them or his family in general. Maybe he doesn't have parents," he insinuated. "And I'm not trying to sound like a dick. Charles and I actually don't know a lot about his background aside from a few things like his schools and stuff."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's more private than you are," he teased.

April playfully nudged Jackson and softly smiled. "I'm not _that_ private. I just told you something very private a bunch of hours ago. Honestly, I thought you would've laughed at me because my story screams 'April Kepner, the girl who's afraid to have sex'. It's stupid, I know."

Jackson shook his head. "I don't think it's stupid," he assured her, switching his coffee cup to his other hand so he could wrap his arm around April's shoulder. He gently kissed her temple. "I can wait."

She looked back at him skeptically. His last girlfriend turned him into a sex machine. She had a hard time believing he could hold off on sex for as long as she decided to wait. "Because you have to, right? Not because you _want_ to."

He slightly grimaced because she wasn't wrong about that. "Well… I can't lie to you, but this is a relationship that I want to work. Sex… sex can get boring when you're not doing anything else," he awkwardly answered. "And I still have to make up for our crappy first date. There are a lot of things I want to do with you that doesn't have to do with sex."

"Like what?"

"Uhh… go to the movies, explore Seattle's landmarks, umm… take you to a Sonics game where you don't break your nose…" He sheepishly grinned at her as she laughed at him. "I'll admit that I prefer sex over a lot of date worthy activities, but that's going to change. Maybe we could even buy each other Christmas presents – in the short time frame we have for that."

"I already bought you a present," April cheerfully announced. "I buy my presents early."

Jackson raised his eyebrow curiously. "How early?"

"Early November." She giggled at the shocked expression on his face. "What? I do my shopping early to avoid the crowds. Although, I do some of my Christmas shopping online."

"What did you get me?" he asked, hoping he could get an idea on what to buy her in return.

"I'm not going to tell you. Where's the surprise in that?"

Jackson smiled as he shook his head. He was never the best at buying presents for people. Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries. Valentine's Day was the worst because his past girlfriends always expected him to give them an extravagant present. The best gift he ever gave on Valentine's Day? Sex. A lot of sex. The women weren't complaining anymore after that.

"Anything in particular you want for Christmas?"

April smiled and dismissively waved her hand. "You don't have to get me anything."

"No way. You can't get me something for Christmas and not receive anything from me. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I blew you off like that?"

"That's the thing, it wouldn't bother me if you didn't," she replied nonchalantly and shrugged. "I guess I'm one of those people who cares more about giving than receiving – non-sexually, of course."

Jackson chuckled. "I got what you meant," he said, winking at her. "Maybe it wouldn't bother you, but as your friend _and_ boyfriend, it would bother me if I didn't buy you anything for Christmas, especially when I know you got something for me."

"What about that cute teddy bear you gave me when I was sick?"

"That doesn't count. C'mon, just give me an idea of what you might want and it'll make things easier for me."

April grinned as she grabbed his face and squeezed his cheeks. "All I want for Christmas is for your wound to heal nicely and to never have to fight another mugger again." She gave him a peck on the lips before she let go of his face. "Don't stress over it. I'm happy with what I have right now."

Jackson decided to stop talking about it knowing he would continue to reach a dead end with her. Regardless of her answer, he planned on buying her a Christmas present. He felt out of place by not returning the favor. And he wanted to be a good boyfriend. Good boyfriends bought good presents. He wasn't going to let her down.

* * *

An hour later, some hope arrived when a surgeon appeared in the waiting room. Both Jackson and April were alert, while Charles had returned from the restroom and was slumped in a chair, his face pale and still covered with drawings. Reed continued to snooze away in her wheelchair.

The surgeon approached the couple. He was tall and African American. "You guys are Trevor Stanley's friends, correct?" They both responded with a quick nod. "I'm Dr. Burke. I'm the Head of Cardiothoracics here at Seattle Grace. Your friend will be okay. He was very lucky considering the bullet narrowly missed his aorta by merely an inch. There wasn't any substantial damage to his lungs or heart, but he did lose a lot of blood, which we were able to replace. He's already been moved to ICU and he should wake up soon."

April placed her hand against her chest as she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. When can we see him?"

"Maybe in a half an hour or so. I'll send someone down here when he's ready for visitors," he answered. "Are there family members we can contact? We got a hold of his information from Mercy West and there weren't any relatives listed in his emergency contacts."

Jackson slowly shook his head. "Unfortunately, we don't know of any family either. We might just have to wait until he's awake."

"Okay, then we'll wait, but the important thing is Trevor's alive," the cardio surgeon stated. He pointed at Charles and Reed. "And are those two okay over there?"

"Oh, yeah," April softly chuckled. "Partied a little too hard tonight. Umm, we'll take care of them. We're all doctors, so it's not a problem."

"At Mercy West?"

She nodded with a smile on her face. "April Kepner, pleased to meet you," she introduced herself. "And this is Jackson-"

"Fox. Jackson Fox," her boyfriend cut in, forcing himself to smile at Preston. No way he wanted to spread the Avery name around Seattle Grace, especially in front of the Head of Cardiothoracics. "We're interns."

"Hopefully, you're a little more competent than the interns I work with," he quipped. "I'll go ahead and check on Trevor one more time. And again, I will send someone down in a half an hour."

April was smiling nonstop after hearing the good news about Trevor. She worries vanished now that they knew he was going to survive. "Well, I feel better now. Do you think we should go one at a time, so we don't overwhelm him?"

Jackson snickered as he checked on Charles and Reed from his seat. "There's only two of us. How about you and I just go together?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on those two," she said, gesturing her hand towards their roommates. "Charles looks like he'll vomit again and Reed… I've never seen her this drunk before, but she may need assistance to the closest trash can."

"And you win," he agreed. "You can visit him first."

"Thank you." She smirked at him. "Jackson Fox?"

"My mother's maiden name," he casually answered. "No one else here needs to know who I am."

* * *

A half an hour later, April was escorted to the ICU where Trevor was awake. Visibly woozy, but awake, which was an encouraging sign. She sat beside his hospital bed and picked up his hand. They weren't the closest of friends despite seeing each other every day at work, but she hoped the incident could help them become closer. As a member of their intern group, he was one of them no matter how secretive he may be.

"How are you feeling, Trevor?" she asked concerned.

"No pain… for now," he murmured, half-smiling at her. "They gave me the good stuff. You could poke my chest and I probably wouldn't feel it. Go ahead. Poke me."

April laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm alright."

"Is Avery okay?"

"He is. Bullet grazed his arm, but he's fine." She raised her eyebrow at him. "Is there a number we can call to reach your parents? Jackson said he doesn't have one and they're not listed in your emergency contacts, so we thought we could get one from you."

Trevor sadly smiled at his friend. "There's no number. I mean, there is one, but they wouldn't come even if I gave it to you. I haven't spoken to my parents in four years," he confessed. April simply stared back at him with a puzzled expression on her face. "I've been lying to all of you since the first day we met. I'm not who you think I am."

April gently squeezed his hand. "You can trust me, Trevor. Whatever you want to say, I'll listen," she promised, leaning closer to him. "And if you don't want anybody to know, then I'll keep it a secret. I won't tell a soul, not even Jackson."

He took a deep breath and exhaled. "You're the only person in our group I can completely trust, so I'm taking your word for it. You know I'm from Utah and I graduated from BYU for my undergrad," he started. She nodded before he continued, "Well, I was raised to follow the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My parents were very strict about following their rules and… as I got older, it was tough."

"I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say," she admitted.

Tears were beginning to form in his eyes. It was the first time April had seen him so fragile. "Midway through high school, I was starting to have these… _feelings_. Umm… at the time they were feelings that I thought were unnatural and inappropriate," he explained. "Because I was a football player, the freaking quarterback and I was supposed to fall for the cheerleader not my running back."

April gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, you're…"

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded. "I'm gay," he barely managed to say before he broke down. "A-and I'm not trying to deny it. I know I'm gay. I… I just have a hard time coming out to people because... I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid of their reactions. My parents certainly didn't take it well when I told them after undergrad."

"But you constantly hit on women. It comes off as denial," she suggested.

"You've heard Charles and his gay jokes in the locker room before. They're not the most offensive jokes I've heard, but I live with the guy and I really don't expect him to take it lightly." He let out a sigh of frustration. "When I went to BYU I literally just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I'm gay, but they would've kicked my ass off of the football team, probably the university too since homosexuality goes against the Honor Code. So, I waited until I graduated to come out to my parents."

April frowned. "And based on what you've told me so far, it was likely ugly."

Trevor laughed to himself. "They didn't want to believe it, of course. They said I was confused and I needed help, that whatever I was feeling could be overcome with time," he complained. "I packed up my things, left Utah and never looked back. They didn't stop me. I'm dead to them. And you know what? I don't care. I moved out to L.A. for medical school and I felt more comfortable there. I even grew my hair out, which was something I couldn't do at BYU. Almost everything in the Honor Code that I couldn't do, I did it. I was a freaking rebel."

"Do any of your friends from school know?"

"A few from UCLA. Maybe my parents told my friends from BYU, but I doubt it. I haven't kept in touch with anybody from home." He playfully pointed at April. "I suppose I have a one-up on you because I _am_ a virgin."

"It's nothing to be ashamed about, Trevor," she assured him, kissing the back of his hand.

"I think this was a sign. Getting shot," he wondered. "Karma for walking out on my family or this is my punishment for being gay."

April slightly felt sorry for him. She didn't have a problem with homosexuality even though she hadn't known a lot of gay people growing up in tiny Moline. When she started college at Akron her eyes were more exposed to different people and cultures. She always reminded herself not to judge people without getting to know them, but she immediately thought Trevor was a pervert due to his tendency to bring up sex out of the blue. It was all an act and he had been suffering inside while trying to hide his true identity from them.

She understood what it was like to be an outsider, but she couldn't imagine how difficult it was for Trevor. Unlike him, she hadn't tried to be somebody she wasn't. She accepted herself for who she was even if some of her quirky characteristics annoyed others. Sure, there was a small number of people who knew the truth about him, but he had his own set of insecurities just like she did. Although, he struggled a lot more with his.

"No, that's not true," she insisted. "You didn't get shot because you're gay. Stupid crap happens to all of us. I mean, look at me. I was minding my own business and Charles shatters my nose. I know that doesn't compare to getting shot, but neither of us deserved what happened to us. It's just tough luck."

Trevor softly laughed. "I've got a pretty awesome battle scar to show off now," he quipped. "A much better looking one than Jackson's. His will look like a lame scab. Mine? I'll have a sweet scar running down my chest from the incision."

"If you say so," she amusingly replied. "Thank you for telling me all of this. Just so you know, there's nothing wrong with being gay. I'm completely okay with it. And your secrets are safe with me until you're ready to tell the others about everything. Anytime you want to talk, let me know. We can even exchange stories I haven't told Jackson yet."

"Thanks. That would help a lot," he agreed. "And umm, Jackson really cares about you. He's willing to give up sex for you until you're ready for that. Just don't make him wait too long. The dude has needs. Also, living with him when he was with Rachel – pure torture. It was like a nonstop sex party in his bedroom."

April cleared her throat, raising both eyebrows. "Oh," she said, her voice slightly cracking. She knew Jackson had a lot of sex with Rachel. More like everyone in their group did. It wasn't a secret they were always going at it. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other at work. But it also wasn't something she wanted to hear about now that she was dating him. "So… how long do you think he'll wait?"

Trevor shrugged his right shoulder. "I don't know. He did tell me he didn't want to wait a year to have sex with you, but you wouldn't do that to him, right?"

She suddenly felt uncomfortable, biting down on her lower lip. They survived a week of dating so far and she was more concerned with them lasting a month than lasting a year. Would he seriously consider dumping her like boyfriend number two did if she waited too long to sleep with him?

The topic of sex was so damn complicated for her sometimes.


	13. Merry Christmas?

**Hey, folks! Sorry for the wait. Had some other things to take care of (and a little bit of writer's block). I'm glad we're finally getting some Japril scenes in tonight's episode. Don't even care if they're good or bad, I just want scenes lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"No, Mom. I already tried three times. I can't come home for Christmas. I'm working," April answered her mother disappointedly as she ate her lunch with her group minus Trevor on the rooftop. "I'm just an intern, so I don't get the luxury of choosing when I can go home and that includes holidays."

She decided to call Karen on her lunch break to tell her the unfortunate news. For the second important holiday in a row, April would be the only Kepner daughter missing in Moline. Her mother had been nagging her to convince her superiors for time off, but it was easier said than done.

"_If I have to work, then you do too," Swanson nonchalantly said. "No way I'm doing an intern's job on Christmas."_

On the plus side, she had her friends to keep her company and of course, Jackson. After some shameless begging, Reed caved in and the two roommates bought a real Christmas tree five days before the 25th. April insisted on decorating not only the tree but the living room, to Reed's dismay. The anti-holiday spirit in her wanted to burn every piece of Christmas decoration in their apartment, but she decided to suck it up until the 26th. She planned on having a field day dumping everything in the trash.

While it was nice to spend Christmas with friends, she missed her family dearly. Since moving to Seattle, the only family member she had seen in person was Alice, but that visit only lasted for an hour. A quick dinner, then she had to return to her soccer team's hotel before curfew. She knew living away from home would have some consequences, but she would give up all of her vacation days just to return to Moline for a weekend.

"I'm really sorry, Mom. There's nothing I can do," she insisted, rolling her eyes when Karen continued to pester her. "I'll make sure to call Christmas morning, okay? I have to go now. Love you. Bye."

Jackson snickered when April softly groaned in frustration after hanging up on her mother. "Hey, at least your mom's asking you to come home for Christmas. Mine's been asking me to come home to work at Mass Gen. She couldn't care less about Christmas," he teased.

"Funny," she sarcastically replied. "I miss home. Is there some unwritten rule at this hospital that says interns aren't allowed to have a break during the holidays?"

"We're at the bottom of the food chain. It's expected," Reed answered with a shrug. "I have no problem working on Christmas."

"Well, duh. You're always happy to work on holidays."

Jackson gently patted April's thigh. "Try not to feel so down. Hopefully, my present will cheer you up." He smiled as he kissed her cheek. "As a matter of fact, tomorrow's Friday. We're off, so how about a date night? And you know what else we can do? Exchange our presents early."

April actually loved the idea. In the Kepner household, they always opened presents on Christmas morning after one of Karen's delectable breakfasts. But she was in Seattle and traditions were no longer in play for her. Even though she told her boyfriend not to buy her anything for Christmas, she was looking forward to what he had in store for her.

"A date night sounds good to me," she chirped, grinning widely at him. "And it's not supposed to rain tomorrow night."

"You know, I think we should stay in this time. Just to be on the safe side," he suggested and laughed. "Trevor's still recovering from surgery, so I can't kick him out, which means your apartment is more convenient."

Reed watched Jackson smirk at her from where he was seated. "Fine," she groaned. "I'll see what Zach's up to, so you two can have the apartment to yourselves."

Charles shook his head in disgust. "You're still trying to hook up with Nurse Rock Star?"

"There is no trying, Charlie," she corrected him. "I'm quite positive he's into me."

April slowly side-eyed her roommate. She didn't have the heart to tell her that Zach was actually _not_ interested in her, but he was going to wait for the right moment to break the news to Reed. The perks of remaining friends with an ex-boyfriend.

She quickly turned her attention back to her half-planned date with Jackson. "Oh! Let me cook for you. I want our date to be a little special," she eagerly proposed.

Charles chuckled. "See that, Avery? She's already keen on becoming the dependable housewife _without_ sex involved," he quipped. Reed smacked his chest with the back of her hand in response. "What? Unless, sex is for dessert, that is one boring ass date."

April bit her lower lip and she stared at Jackson worriedly. "Or… we could- we could order take out and watch a movie or…" Her voice trailed as she ran out of ideas in her head. "I don't know."

"Your original plan was fine," Jackson assured her while sternly gazing back at his roommate. He ran his hand up and down her back to help ease away her worries. "Thanksgiving gave me a nice preview of your cooking skills. I'm sure you're much better than take out."

"Okay," she murmured. Her pager went off, forcing her to end her lunch early. "We can discuss our date later."

"No problem." He kissed her goodbye, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "It's a date then."

Reed waited for April to leave the rooftop before she shoved Charles, knocking him onto his back. "You're a dick. Why would you say that crap in front of her? You know how insecure she gets!" she scolded him.

Charles laughed as he pushed himself back up to his sitting position. "I was just kidding. I didn't mean for her to take it so seriously."

Jackson pointed his finger at him. "I'm going to kill you later," he warned.

"Dude, it's not my fault you suggested such a dull date," he retorted. "After that disaster of a first date you two had, April cooking dinner for you is your way of making up for it? Shouldn't you be doing the cooking since you fucked up the date in the first place? Oh, and you got my car towed, remember?"

"She willingly volunteered. I didn't ask her to do that." He proudly smiled at Charles. "Besides, you ate the leftovers from Thanksgiving. You should know April's a good cook."

Reed nodded in agreement. "He's right. I probably would've starved to death or poisoned myself without April. The woman can cook." She decided to change the subject. "So, what did you get her for Christmas?"

Jackson choked on his water. He hoped nobody would ask him because... well… "I uhh, didn't buy anything yet," he sheepishly confessed. While he had always planned on buying his girlfriend a gift, the opportunity to go shopping hadn't arrived. He was either too busy at work or he spent his free time with April.

"You do know Christmas is on Sunday, right?" Charles reminded him, then he held up his finger. "Oh, wait. Christmas is _tomorrow_ for you since you came up with the brilliant idea to exchange presents on your date. Good luck with that, Avery."

Reed slightly grimaced. "And on the rare occasion, I have to agree with Charlie here. You better come up with something decent to give her," she advised. "Christmas is April's favorite holiday. Don't ruin it for her, especially since I'm the one who lives with her. I don't want to deal with a depressed April because you bought her a pencil for Christmas."

Charles snapped his fingers. "Ah! Lingerie. Black and lacy," he suggested. He ducked when Jackson threw a balled up napkin at him. "You don't want to see her in lingerie?"

"I'm a guy. Of course I do," Jackson smugly answered. "But no, I'm not buying her lingerie for Christmas. Already keeping a mental memo to myself to _not _accept anymore gift suggestions from you."

He truthfully had no idea what to buy April. Lingerie would be his last resort, but he most definitely didn't want to do that. They weren't even at lingerie level in their relationship. And if he wanted to see her out of her regular clothes, he wanted to see her without _any_ clothing. There was nothing wrong about fantasizing about naked April in his mind.

The pretty boy immediately pulled himself away from his perverted thoughts to focus on the real dilemma. What was he going to give April for Christmas? Something too cheap would show he didn't put much effort into it. A gift that was too expensive meant he was trying too hard to impress her. He still didn't have a clue about what she had bought for him. She refused to provide any hints and it was killing him. Instead of sleeping in on his day off, he would be making a trip to the mall to find a present worth buying for her.

* * *

Jackson anticipated a rush of last minute shoppers in the late afternoon, so he forced himself to wake up early and drive to the mall just as they opened their doors. And it was a Friday morning, he figured at least half of them would be on their way to work – or sleeping in like he would be doing if he wasn't such a procrastinator about buying April's present. The mall had a fair amount of people shopping, but not the large crowd he was relieved to be avoiding.

Of all of the places to end up at the mall, Jackson was browsing through… the bookstore. He went to every clothing store and nothing caught his eye. His paranoia of purchasing the wrong size or picking something that she would loathe prevented him from wanting to buy clothes. Even his worst case scenario of turning to lingerie was scratched. He loved buying clothes for himself, but he couldn't say the same for other people.

April seemed to be the bookworm type, yet he had another problem – what the hell kind of books did she read aside from medical textbooks? He thought maybe she was into those cheesy romance novels with Fabio on the cover. Since she was a self-proclaimed sucker for old fashioned romance, she had to be into any books involving romance.

Standing in front of the Best Sellers section, he picked up a book. Some novel called _Twilight_ that came out two months prior. It took him about seven seconds to skim the back before he returned it. No to any vampire romance novels. Jackson continued to scan the various books before moving on to another section. He thought his search had become hopeless. Just like the clothing stores, nothing stuck out to him. There were other things in the bookstore besides novels.

He eyed the stack of red notebooks. April wrote notes every single day. She had to be close to the end of her current one. Then again, nothing about a small red notebook screamed "Merry Christmas! This is how much I care about you."

And again, he was left wandering around the bookstore. Jackson began to doubt his choice to search for a gift in the bookstore. If there was an award for most unexciting boyfriend, he would probably win. Who gave their girlfriend a book for Christmas?

It was possible he was over thinking the whole present thing. April seemed to have bought their intern group a present, so how much could she have spent on everybody? He would definitely be okay with a simple t-shirt from her since she completed her shopping before they were together. Maybe a lighthearted book would be a more enjoyable gift over a cheesy romance novel. Something that would make her smile, perhaps even laugh. A gag gift, yet still useful at the same time.

He smiled as he finally figured out what to get his adorable girlfriend for Christmas.

* * *

Trevor sat on the couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table while he played with his new babies, the Xbox 360 and _Call of Duty 2_. His stay at Seattle Grace lasted for a week before he was discharged. Since then, he had been relaxing at his apartment as he continued to recover from his gunshot wound. Because he wasn't allowed back at work yet, he spent his days living on the couch and growing more accustomed to his toy, which he hadn't been able to use as much before he got shot.

He heard a knock on the front door and never bothered to pause his video game. "It's open," he yelled out.

The door opened and April peeked her head inside. She let herself in when it became obvious to her that Trevor wasn't going to get up at any moment. "You leave your door unlocked?" she asked as she closed it. "I could've been a burglar. And you just got shot after an attempted robbery."

"Leaving it unlocked saves me time from getting up to answer the door," he insisted, smiling to himself as he stared at the TV screen. "Jackson's not here."

"Oh, good. Because I didn't come here to see him," she admitted and sat down beside her friend. April watched him shoot a bunch of people on the TV screen and cringed. "No offense, but this is pretty morbid."

Trevor softly laughed. "But it's therapeutic for me. So, what'd you come here for? Just wanted to hang out with your best gay friend?" he teasingly remarked. "I've heard a lot of women's reliable best friends are gay men. I'm just saying, if you're getting sick of Reed, I don't mind being your new best friend."

She nudged him with her elbow before she folded her arms. "I like this Trevor more than the one who kept hitting on me at the beginning of our residency," she playfully said, then she sighed. "Jackson and I have a date tonight at my apartment."

"Yeah, I heard. You don't sound very giddy about it."

"I'm looking forward to it, I promise, but…" April turned her head to look at Trevor. "Would Jackson seriously break up with me if I don't have sex with him for a long period of time? I can't even worry about a year because honestly, I don't think he can last a _month _without sex."

Trevor finally paused his video game, setting his controller aside. "Okay, I didn't mean to freak you out when I told you what he shared with me," he guiltily replied. "I was drugged up when you first visited me, so I wasn't thinking clearly. Anyway, in my opinion, you're not like a Rachel-type of girlfriend. He seemed to be into her mostly for the sex. With you, he cares about everything that has to do with you. And he even said he's not with you just for the sex, so you shouldn't worry much about putting out for him. He can wait."

"I bought him a Boston Celtics jacket for Christmas," she muttered, slightly smiling at him. "I was still with Zach when I got it, about a week before he broke his tailbone. Do you think Jackson will assume I'm trying too hard to please him?"

"It's just a jacket," he answered unperturbed. "Trying too hard would be like if you bought him an entire Celtics outfit. Nothing wrong with a jacket – unless, you bought some vintage, limited edition jacket. Then, you're trying too hard."

April shook her head. "No, it's not vintage. He's a hardcore Celtics fan. I just thought it would be a nice gift. Plus, he was my first friend here, so I wanted to give him a gift that shows I care – not that I bought the rest of you crap."

"Would you be offended if I totally didn't buy anybody anything?"

"No," she chuckled. "In fact, I've been telling Jackson not to buy me anything, but since he kept insisting on it I'm not going to stop him. Now I'm excited about what he has for me. Do you know?"

Trevor forced himself to smile. Jackson wasn't home for a reason – he was at the mall searching for a present for his girlfriend. "Not a clue," he truthfully said. "He's… keeping it a secret from both Percy and I. I'm sure it'll be something pretty sweet."

"Sometimes I still think it's too good to be true, being with him," April admitted, smiling down at her lap. "I'm not his type at all. I've known that since I met him, but I have a hard time figuring out what exactly he sees in me."

"Well, I know it's not your insecurities," he quipped. "There are a lot of likable qualities about yourself that you don't realize are worth noticing. You focus too much on your insecurities," April."

She softly groaned. "I know, but I can't help it. Nobody's ever really told me I'm awesome or that I'm worth it – except for my parents... and maybe some professors. I'm not used to being noticed," the redhead explained. "And when I'm noticed it's usually for embarrassing reasons."

"That was the past. This is now. Maybe moving to Seattle was the fresh start you needed. You started off with a clean slate just like most of us." He pointed at himself. "But me, it's more like square one. I promised myself I would be my real self here, but living with a guy like Jackson – it's intimidating. You're lucky because you'll get to see him naked more than I will."

April slightly blushed at the thought of nude Jackson. She had seen him half naked in the locker room, but even with their dating status she was hesitant to stare at him for more than five seconds. It didn't help that his body was absolutely perfect in her mind. His abs alone made her think very naughty thoughts.

"But I don't know when that'll happen," she bashfully replied.

"Tell me the truth. How bad do you want to have sex with him?" Trevor questioned with a grin on his face.

"I wouldn't say I'm desperate to have sex with Jackson, but of course I want to. I just want it to be special and romantic, not some out of the blue 'Let's have sex' thing. Do you know what I mean?"

He snickered as he resumed his video game. "In other words, you want Jackson to make some old fashioned, sweet love to you, right?" She responded by slapping his knee, which only made him laugh. "Maybe I shouldn't even be talking. I'm a freaking virgin, remember? Wait. Are you seriously _not_ a virgin?"

"Do you want me to make a public service announcement about it?" she scoffed, smirking at him. "My first boyfriend, okay? I told Jackson about him, so he knows the truth."

"Was it earth shattering sex?" he teased.

"Gosh, no. It was… uncomfortable," she reluctantly answered and quickly shook her head. "How about we don't talk about that? It was embarrassing enough telling Jackson about what happened with boyfriend number one."

Trevor reached for the second game controller on the coffee table and handed it to April. "Here, we can play multiplayer."

April softly laughed as she awkwardly stared at the controller like it was an ancient artifact. "I don't know how. And I suck at video games. The only video game I ever played was _Pac-Man_ and I always died because I'd freak out whenever those ghost thingies came near me."

"Don't worry. I'll be nice and let you live for a while," he promised.

"No, it's fine," she politely declined and set the controller aside. "I'll just watch you."

Trevor was slightly taken aback when April rested her head against his shoulder. He looked down at her for a brief moment before he stared at the TV screen again and smiled. They were slowly becoming each other's confidant since he opened up to her at the hospital. It was nice having a friend to lean on. He knew he made the wise decision to trust her with his secrets.

* * *

Jackson stood outside of April and Reed's apartment holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a Christmas themed gift bag in the other. They agreed not to make the date too formal, so he wore a maroon colored dress shirt – rolling up his sleeves like he almost always did – with his jeans and his favorite pair of Adidas basketball shoes. He knocked on the door feeling confident about having a successful date this time around.

April answered the door smiling. He softly chuckled at her dark green short sleeved blouse. It was like they unintentionally coordinated wearing Christmas colors. He was thankful he hadn't chosen a bright red shirt to wear.

"Oh, you brought wine," she cheerfully pointed out.

"I did," he replied, quickly shrugging his shoulders. "You're doing all of the cooking and I felt kind of bad about not helping at all, so I thought I'd bring this for our date."

She bounced up on her tip toes and gave her boyfriend a kiss. "You're a sweetheart."

He followed her into the apartment, closing the door behind him. The smell of whatever she was cooking in the kitchen immediately caught his attention. "What's for dinner? Smells good."

"Seafood linguini in a white wine sauce," she proudly said as she walked back to the kitchen. "It's almost ready."

"Damn," he breathed while he stared at her backside. April was wearing black tight fitting jeans, which outlined her hips and rear end well. It was torture for him knowing he wouldn't be removing those jeans for her anytime soon.

"Have a seat, Jackson," she called out from the kitchen, interrupting his horny thoughts. "Make yourself comfortable."

Jackson set his present on the couch and carried the wine as he walked into the kitchen. He placed the bottle on the counter before standing behind April. Gently kissing the top of her head, his hands roamed up and down her sides.

"What are you doing?" April asked with a playful tone.

"You told me to make myself comfortable," he mischievously said, pushing aside her hair to kiss her neck. "I'm comfortable right here."

She turned around, shyly grinning at him as she forced him out of the kitchen. "Be a good boy and wait for me at the dining table."

He followed her orders, though he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Now he felt like an ass because all he could think about were April and her tight jeans. If she had worn them to tease him, she was doing a horribly good job.

They spent the next half hour eating dinner and sharing more stories about their families and childhood. Jackson loved it when her dimples stood out every time she smiled brightly at him. Her high-pitched laugh made it hard for him to finish his own stories because he would be laughing along with her. And she was an amazing cook. Despite the lack of sex between them, there was nothing he disliked about her – except when she let her insecurities come out, which hadn't happened so far in their date.

After dinner, they moved over to the couch. Instead of exchanging presents first, April wanted to reward Jackson with a makeout session. Making out with him wasn't foreign to her. They had done it many times since they began dating. And they were on a date. She refused to have a dull date and allow Charles to be right. It wasn't sex, but she had no problem with making out with her boyfriend.

The fact that their bodies were pressing against each other and thin pieces of clothing were the only things separating them from skin contact, all of the touching and groping drove Jackson crazy. He wanted to be a gentleman, but her legs wrapping around his waist was enough for him to stop and sit up on the couch.

"Okay, how about we swap presents now?" he breathlessly suggested.

April slowly sat up and neatly adjusted her hair. "Yeah, okay." She gently bit down on her lower lip as she walked to the Christmas tree. She returned to the couch with a wrapped rectangular box and handed it to Jackson. "Umm, is it weird saying Merry Christmas now?"

Jackson smiled and shook his head. "Nope. Feel free to say it," he said as he unwrapped his present. She watched him open the box, remaining hopeful she picked the right gift for him. His eyes grew wide and he grinned while he held up the green and white hooded jacket with the Boston Celtics logo on the upper left chest. "Oh, cool! This is nice. I really like it."

"Really? It's not too much or anything?"

"No, no. It's perfect," he insisted, wearing the jacket. He examined the sleeves, nodding his head in approval because she bought him the correct size. Jackson leaned forward and kissed April's lips. "Actually, I love it. Thank you."

It was Jackson's turn to give her his present. He handed the gift bag to April. "Merry Christmas," he happily stated, eagerly waiting for her to open it.

April had a wide grin on her face as she dug her hand inside of the gift bag. She pulled out a book, but her smile gradually faded away when she realized what it was. "_The Joy of Sex_?" she read out loud.

Her eyes looked up at Jackson, who appeared nervous. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea after all. "You're not laughing," he muttered, forcing himself to smile. "I… uhh, I thought it was funny."

"You think buying me a book about sex is funny?" she retorted. "You- is this your way of telling me we should just get it over with now? I mean, I know you love sex and all, but you said you would wait."

Jackson waved his hands in front of his chest. "No! That wasn't my intention, I swear!" He pressed his lips together when he noticed the tears forming in her eyes. "I knew I should've just bought you a red notebook earlier."

"_Earlier_?!" April gasped. "You bought this today, didn't you? You never actually had a present for me. Jackson, you should've just listened to me and not buy anything at all. I told you I would've been okay with that."

"April-" He shut his eyes and sighed when she stormed out of the living room. She retreated to her bedroom, so he followed her until she slammed the door in his face. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "April, can you unlock the door, please?"

The sounds of her sniffles made him feel guilty. Date number two was officially ruined. Jackson knocked on the door as he rested his forehead against it. "I'm sorry. Open the door, so we can talk."

"Just go home, Jackson."

There was no point in arguing, so he decided to give her the space she wanted. "Fine. We'll talk tomorrow at work," he replied and frowned as he quietly left her apartment.

* * *

Instead of going home to his apartment, Jackson decided to sulk at Schmo's. The date had been successful until they exchanged presents. He was certain April would laugh at the book he bought, but not one giggle came out of her mouth. In retrospect, it was a douchey move. An even more douchey move was to admit he bought her present at the last minute. Now he appeared to be the bad boyfriend who hardly put any thought into his girlfriend's Christmas gift.

And he did exactly what Reed didn't want him to do – ruin Christmas for April, but the real holiday was on Sunday. Maybe there was still time to make it up to her, he thought.

But not right now. He preferred sulking with his second glass of whiskey.

"Nice jacket." Jackson turned his head to see Swanson sitting beside him at the bar. She ordered herself a drink before she picked up the tag hanging from the bottom of her intern's jacket. "Did you steal this or are you one of those people who keeps the tag, so you can return it later when you're done wearing it?"

"Huh? Oh…" He ripped off the tag and shoved it inside of his pocket. "It was a gift… from the girlfriend."

Swanson smirked at him. "It's a nice gift, but you look like your dog died."

"That's because I screwed up our date by giving her a shitty present in return," Jackson bitterly replied and sipped his whiskey. "I thought I knew how to be a gentleman. Nevermind. I completely suck at it."

"Is she asking you to be a gentleman?"

"No, but I _want_ to be one for her. She enjoys old fashioned romance or whatever, which isn't really me, but I care about her too much to not try," he insisted. "April's not like the other girls I've dated."

Swanson chuckled. "Kepner's your girlfriend?" she asked, sounding shocked that he was dating her nerdy intern. "That's… interesting. I thought Reed was more of your type."

Jackson scoffed. "No way. Reed is cool, but she has the tendency to get on my nerves. She's like the annoying little sister I'm glad I never had," he admitted, sharing a laugh with Swanson. "Is it really that surprising? Me dating April?"

The third year nodded as she drank her beer. "Umm, yeah. April's cute, but I've had plenty of time to observe her and while she's a reliable intern, that's all she really is to me. Cute and reliable. And nerdy. Then again, what do I know? You guppies spend more time together than I spend with my bed." She smugly smiled at him. "It's a lonely bed."

He finished his whiskey in one big gulp. "That's unfortunate, I guess."

"My offer still stands, Avery. Whenever you feel the need to," she assured him. "Because you wouldn't be here if you were getting laid. It doesn't sound like April's giving you any."

"That's not my biggest worry at the moment," he murmured.

Swanson dismissively waved her hand and laughed. "We're at a bar. Your worries are supposed to stop at the door." She ran her fingers against the small bristles on the back of Jackson's head. "Nobody has to find out."

Jackson had trouble making eye contact with the blonde beside him. She was partially his boss, but she acted like a random woman he had just met in the bar. Definitely not the all work, no play resident he knew at the hospital. And she wasn't unattractive either. The whiskey provided him enough liquid courage to lean towards Swanson and kiss her.

But suddenly, thoughts of April invaded his mind and he pulled away from Swanson, nearly stumbling off of his stool. "I uhh… I have to go," he guiltily said as he threw some cash onto the counter. He didn't give her a chance to reply and quickly rushed out of the bar.

He wasn't exactly sober enough to drive yet, so he simply sat in the front seat of his car feeling mortified. He kissed Swanson, his boss – his _and_ April's boss. The pretty boy wished he hadn't done that.

Because Jackson Avery had never been a cheater and he wasn't planning on becoming one now.

* * *

The following morning was going to be dreadful for Jackson. When he arrived home at his apartment he ignored the greetings from Charles and Trevor in the living room and went straight to bed in the clothes he wore for his date with April. He felt like crap and barely slept. The guilt was unbearable. Although he didn't sleep with Swanson, kissing her was enough for him to hate himself for betraying April. He hadn't come up with a way to tell her. He refused to lie to her about what happened.

He stopped a few feet away from his locker when he saw her sitting on the bench in front of her own locker, already dressed in her scrubs and writing in her red notebook. She didn't seem distraught, but he couldn't know until they spoke again.

Jackson took a deep breath before he approached her. "Hey," he softly greeted her while he unlocked his locker.

April looked up at him and jumped up from the bench, her ponytail swaying back and forth. "Oh, Jackson! I'm glad you're finally here," she replied, appearing relieved to see him. The smile on her face surprised him. "Umm, I overreacted last night. I-I probably should've called you to come back, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me after I kicked you out. And I also felt stupid about crying over a book- well, I'm just trying to say I'm sorry. You didn't ruin our date. I did and I'm really sorry."

He turned to face her and slightly smiled. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault."

"No, it really is. I was too sensitive," she insisted.

"It was a half-assed effort on my part. I don't blame you for getting upset last night, especially after you gave me that jacket." Jackson cupped April's cheeks and gently kissed her. After kissing Swanson the previous night, he needed to kiss his girlfriend again – not that doing this erased any guilt he had been feeling since it happened. "Date number three will be the charm, whenever we decide to do it. The date, I mean. Not actually doing _it_."

April laughed. "You goofball. I knew what you meant." She wrapped her arms around his waist as she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. "Can we just put last night behind us and move on?"

_If only it were that easy_, Jackson thought. Her perkiness was in full effect. How could he tell her he kissed another woman now?

Perhaps he could follow her lead and put everything behind him. The kiss with Swanson meant nothing to him. He didn't have any feelings for his resident. Maybe if he hadn't been drinking, he wouldn't have acted like an idiot. Of course, he couldn't blame the alcohol for what he did. It was his own damn fault and nobody else's, but he choked. He didn't have the heart to tell her what he did.

He kissed her forehead. "Yeah," he sighed. "Let's move on."

* * *

**Sorry. I was seriously considering ending the bar scene with a cliffhanger and making you wonder what happened, but that would be cruel :P**


	14. My Fault

**Thank you for your reviews! I know I'm not updating as quickly as I used to, but new GA episodes (and life in general) always ruin my writing mojo. I'll try my best to update a little faster during the hiatus, though writing two fics at the same time makes that kind of difficult. Anyway, I hope this slightly longer chapter makes up for it even if it's not exactly fluffy. And as always, let me know what you think please!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

One day was bad enough. Keeping the kiss with Swanson from April for a week became unbearable. Jackson couldn't find the best way to tell her. It didn't matter how he told her because he had a difficult time believing she would take the news well. His conscience constantly nagged him to come clean, but every time the opportunity arose, he lost his voice.

_It was just a kiss_, he would tell himself. However, kissing another woman made him feel dirty and sleazy. And since the kiss, Swanson had been favoring him at work. Even when he didn't deserve to scrub in with her and Dr. Martin his resident chose him over the other interns. Nobody seemed to notice the favoritism because they were scrubbing in with other attendings, but he knew somebody would suspect it sooner than later. It didn't help that she would attempt to flirt with him when they were alone. He wanted to put an end to it, but she would for sure leave him out of cardio cases. He didn't want that either.

He considered requesting a new resident except that would mean being away from April. And their friends would question why he decided to join another intern group. It would be a never ending lie. The lying needed to stop eventually.

It was New Year's Eve. So long, 2005. Hello, 2006. Perhaps the beginning of a new year meant Jackson could start over. Confess to April about kissing Swanson and hope for the best – although, maybe he was too hopeful. His girlfriend was the sensitive type and this wasn't a problem she would brush off and pretend it didn't happen. He expected her to be pissed. She should be. He didn't want them breaking up over it, though.

Jackson was slumped on the couch beside Trevor as they engaged in a multiplayer game of _Call of Duty 2_. The pretty boy had the weekend off from work, while his roommate remained on medical leave. He desperately needed to get his secret off of his chest. Despite being closer to Charles, he felt better trusting Trevor.

"Trev, if I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret?" he inquired, keeping his eyes on the TV screen.

"Depends what the secret is. What is it?" _Please be gay, please be gay._

"I kissed Swanson," Jackson muttered. His roommate whipped his head to look at him, both of his eyebrows raised. He paused their game and set his controller on his lap. "At Schmo's. I had a little bit to drink and… I was stupid."

"When was this?"

"After my date with April went downhill. I was by myself, then Swanson showed up. She offered me uhh, sex for surgeries. Actually, before that ugly sweater party, we were in the elevator together when she first initiated this crap," he recalled, shaking his head in disgust. "And she's been favoring me at work. Flirting too. It's like she assumes I do want to sleep with her."

Trevor smirked at him. "Do you?"

"Of course not. I don't have feelings for her, but if I tell her to back off, then I probably won't see another OR for the next two months," Jackson answered worriedly. "I don't know how to tell April without hurting her."

"Let me get this straight – you kissed Swanson _and_ despite not having any feelings for her, you're letting her flirt with you, so you can get free passes into surgeries? I see how you really are," Trevor scoffed. He was Team April all the way. "Maybe April was better off with Nurse Rock Star."

Jackson stared at Trevor confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sweet on the outside, but a total douche inside. You don't care about anyone but yourself."

"Bullshit. You know what I think you are? You're jealous," he claimed. "I always sensed you had a thing for April since day one and you're jealous because I'm with her."

Trevor simply laughed in response. If only his roommate knew the truth, he would find it hilarious as well. "You are _way_ off, bro. I just think lying to April is a crappy move. After acting like a jackass with Zach and scaring him away by breaking his ass, you finally got what you wanted, but you're kissing our resident instead. Because _that_ makes a lot of sense."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "We only kissed once," he retorted. "Nothing else happened. She flirts, but that doesn't mean I flirt back. I know where the line is and I'm not crossing it."

"Except you already did by kissing Swanson," Trevor reminded him. He faced forward and sighed as he resumed their game. "When are you going to tell her?"

"I was thinking tonight at our party. My New Year's resolution is to be honest from now on. No more hiding any secrets, especially from April. That sounds like a doable resolution, right?"

"Uhh, yeah. Honesty's the best policy," the brunette awkwardly replied. "And if you don't tell her, then I will. She's my friend too."

Jackson glanced at his roommate skeptically. He rarely saw Trevor and April hanging out together as friends. "Since when?"

"Since I got shot. She spent more time visiting me at Seattle Grace than you and Charles combined," Trevor recalled. "And we learned to understand each other better, probably more than you two do. Don't get jealous now. There's nothing going on between us if that's what you're beginning to assume."

"Whatever, man. I trust April enough that she wouldn't cheat on me," he insisted, then he frowned. While his girlfriend managed to sustain self-discipline he couldn't do the same. "Even more than I trust myself."

* * *

Because the women hosted a Christmas-themed event at their apartment with the ugly sweater party, Reed suggested – actually, forced – the men to host their own party. Also, their landlord banned them from having anymore loud parties after Trevor got shot outside of their complex. Charles agreed to throw a party if it meant winning points from Reed. He even offered to drive her home if she was too drunk to handle a car on her own, but his hopes were dashed when she told him Zach was her New Year's Eve date.

Despite the disappointing news, he wanted to look impressive. Although, giving himself a haircut was a terrible idea. All it took was one slip and the rest was a disaster.

Jackson and Trevor stood side by side in the bathroom's doorway as they hunched over in laughter. Charles blankly stared at them with a towel hanging over his shoulders and an electric clipper in his hand. There was a visible bald spot on the top right area of his head. He had been working on the sides, but when he moved towards the top of his head…

"I sneezed, you assholes," Charles angrily said as his roommates continued to laugh in amusement. "Dudes! Help me fix my hair before people start showing up!"

Jackson stood upright and shook his head, smiling at Charles. "You're gonna have to shave it all off. Unless, you don't mind covering that bald spot with shoe polish, but that stuff smells awful," he suggested. He ran his hand across his shaved head. "This look isn't bad. April loves touching it."

"Yeah, but I've got a big ass head compared to yours," he complained and pointed at his own head. "If I shave it all off, I will seriously look like Charlie fucking Brown and I don't want Reed giving me more crap than she already does."

"Then, wear a hat," Trevor chimed in. "Cover it up for a day, then deal with it tomorrow when you're not hungover."

"Or you can just let me fix it for you right now," Jackson added and reached for the electric clipper. He rolled his eyes when Charles swung his arm away. "Don't be a pussy. Hand it over, so we can move on."

"No way, Avery," Charles declined. "You'll give me some ridiculous cut on purpose."

Jackson persisted in trying to take the electric clipper from his roommate. He finally grabbed a hold of it, but Charles refused to release it from his grip. "Give it up!" he ordered as he attempted to pry it away from Charles' fat fingers.

With another large swing, the electric clipper nicked Jackson's face just above his eye. Charles gasped after he saw the end result. "Uhh, if you want my advice, don't look at the mirror," he guiltily responded.

The faint buzzing noise from the electric clipper let the pretty boy know it had been on the entire time. Slowly lifting his head up, he turned to face the mirror and found half of his eyebrow missing. His mouth dropped open, then his face immediately formed into a scowl. "You son of a bitch!" he shouted before he pounced on top of his roommate.

Trevor folded his arms and watched the two men wrestle on the bathroom floor with a smirk on his face. Jackson managed to steal the electric clipper from Charles and shave off random spots of hair from his head. Despite the ugly haircut, he thought Jackson got the worst of it. Charles' hair was fixable. He doubted the Boston native would shave his other eyebrow to make both even again.

Jackson pushed himself up from the floor, brushing off traces of Charles' hair from his t-shirt. He leaned forward towards the mirror and touched the shaved area where half of his eyebrow used to be. "What the hell am I supposed to do about this?"

"Sharpie?" Charles teased, drawing a glare from his roommate as he stood up. He turned his head from side to side while he examined his new haircut. There were bald spots everywhere. "Douche. Now my hair looks like I attempted to shave rolling dice on my head."

"If I can't do anything about my eyebrow, then you can't wear a hat tonight," he retorted. "And no hoods either. I'm not kidding. I could kick your ass for this one."

"Maybe if you had just backed off, you'd still have a full brow."

A knock on the front door startled both men. "Oh, crap! Somebody's here," Jackson panicked. He rushed out of the bathroom and headed for his bedroom. "If it's April, tell her I'm busy fantasizing about her. She'll stay away for a while."

"And tell Reed I'm… dead," Charles added before he slammed the bathroom door shut.

Trevor walked to the door and opened it. He was happy to find April outside because he was looking forward to her reaction to Jackson's half-brow. "Hey, where's Reed?"

"She told me to go ahead, while she waits for Zach to pick her up," she answered as she entered the apartment. "Sadly, she still has no idea that nothing will develop with him. He's too nice to tell her the truth. Where's Jackson?"

"He is…" Trevor paused as he grinned at April. "…in his room. Waiting for you."

"Okay, thanks." She was caught off-guard by his sudden urge to hug her, making her laugh. "Trevor, what's the hug for?"

He pulled away from her and sighed. "Good luck," he answered. "Don't ask. Just… good luck."

April slowly nodded her head as she walked past Trevor. "Umm, thanks again… I guess." She softly hummed to herself on her way to Jackson's bedroom. Gently knocking on the door, she invited herself inside. She barely got her foot past the doorway before her boyfriend forced her back into the hallway with the door. "Jackson! What the hell?!"

"Just a minute!" Jackson called out from inside of his bedroom. He covered his face with a ski mask before he opened the door. "So… what are you doing here early?"

"Are you planning on robbing a bank later?" she quipped. "What's with the mask?"

He closed the door and locked it after she walked inside. "I thought I'd go for a different look tonight," he unconvincingly said, sitting down on his bed. She furrowed her eyebrows at him in response. "What? You don't like it?"

"I prefer seeing all of your face." She reached for his ski mask, but he moved his head away. "Okay, I'm done playing around. What are you hiding? Did you cut yourself shaving?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Jackson took a deep breath, then he removed the ski mask from his head. April softly gasped at his ruined eyebrow, covering her mouth to avoid laughing at him. He rolled his eyes as a chuckle escaped from her mouth. "This wasn't my fault."

"You know, normal people use tweezers," she teasingly replied.

He pursed his lips, shaking his head in embarrassment. "Charles did it. We were fighting over the electric clipper because he botched his own haircut and I wanted to help," he explained unenthusiastically. "I got him back, though. His head looks like a lawnmower ran over it."

She sat down on her boyfriend's lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry this happened to you," she giggled. He slightly scowled back at her. "And I'm sorry for laughing, but how can I not?"

"Do you know how to deal with this? Fix me, please," he begged, giving her the puppy lip.

"I guess I can take care of that with some eyeliner, but I can't guarantee it'll look realistic or nice," she suggested with a grimace. April ran her finger against the missing portion of Jackson's eyebrow. "That could take a month to grow back, so try some Rogaine or… shave half of your other eyebrow to match this one."

She laughed at him again, so he swiftly flipped her onto her back on the bed and hovered above her. "Don't make me do it," he warned.

"Do what?" Jackson started tickling April's sides, making her shriek and giggle. "No, stop it! I'm sorry, okay? I'll be nicer to you now."

He mischievously grinned at her. "I figured that would work," he arrogantly stated before he kissed her. "I don't look too ridiculous, right? Be honest. My feelings won't be hurt at all."

"Well…" She ran her fingertips against the back of his head as she gently bit down on her lower lip. "…you do look ridiculous, but not _too_ ridiculous. How's that for an answer?"

"I suppose I can take that," Jackson agreed, rolling onto his back. He pulled April against his side and smoothly moved his hand up and down her arm. "Do you have a New Year's resolution?"

"I do, actually. Mine is to be bolder and take more risks," she cheerfully replied. "What about you?"

"To be more open and honest with people," he murmured. "So, do resolutions officially start after the ball drops at midnight or does it matter at all when we start fulfilling them?"

April shrugged. "I don't know." She sat up on the bed, staring down at Jackson. "Why do you ask? Is there something you want to tell me?"

There was no turning back now. He couldn't lie to her anymore. "I umm…" His confession was at the tip of his tongue, ready to come out, but the little Devil Jackson sitting on his shoulder told him to shut up. He mentally slapped it away, then he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I kissed Swanson."

Her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and looked away from him. "When?"

"After you kicked me out when our date didn't end well. I was drinking at Schmo's and she showed up- I wasn't thinking clearly and I'm sorry," he shamefully answered. "Swanson even offered sex for surgeries, but-"

"She _what_?" April shook her head in disgust. Their resident was a doctor she trusted, but after learning she had been making moves on Jackson… "And you never said anything? Oh my God! Have you actually thought about having sex with her?"

"No, no! I promise, I haven't at all," he truthfully said.

"It makes sense now why you've been getting most of the cardio cases! And why should I believe you when you couldn't tell me this after it happened?" she snapped, her voice getting louder and louder after each word. "You've been lying to me, Jackson!"

Jackson chased after April when she slid off of his bed and headed for the door. "Wait a second!" He cut her off by shielding the door with his body. "I don't have feelings for Swanson. I never did. I just wasn't sure how to tell you without sounding like a total douche."

"Why did you kiss her, Jackson? Is it because you haven't been getting laid or- or was this some sort of revenge for kicking you out of my apartment? And again, nobody gives their girlfriend _The Joy of Sex_ for Christmas unless they're trying to coax them into having sex!"

"It was a gag gift, April!" He threw his arms up in frustration. "And I didn't kiss Swanson to get back at you. I was kind of drunk and like I said, I wasn't thinking clearly. I know that's not a legitimate excuse, but I would take it back in an instant if I could."

"You still lied," she reminded him, pushing him to the side so she could open the door. "How am I supposed to trust you when you can't even be straightforward with me?"

Jackson frowned as she opened the door and left his bedroom. "Don't leave yet. Can we please talk about this?"

April spun around, her eyes preparing to unleash some much needed tears. "Let's face it. It'll always be about sex no matter what you say, so just go be with Swanson since she's willing to give you everything I'm not ready to." She started backing away from him. "We tried and failed. We're just not compatible. You and I obviously want very different things in a relationship."

He continued to follow her all the way to the front door. Trevor silently looked on as April left their apartment in a hurry. Jackson gave up after she refused to listen to him and cursed at himself.

Charles stepped out of the bathroom with a newly shaved head. "Hey, was April here? I could've sworn I heard her voice a while ago," he curiously said. Jackson glared at him, while Trevor awkwardly picked at a thread dangling from the hem of his shirt. "What? Did I miss something?"

Jackson ignored his roommate as he retreated back into his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him, then he collapsed face first onto his bed. The New Year for him hadn't even started yet and it already majorly sucked.

* * *

Reed had been preparing to leave for the New Year's Eve party at the guys' apartment when April came bursting into their own. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she walked straight to her bedroom without acknowledging her roommate. Zach hadn't arrived yet to pick her up, so she decided to find out what was wrong.

April's sobs made her explanations difficult to understand, but Reed was able to make out Jackson, Swanson and asshole. "So, they were sleeping together?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No! B-but he kissed her!" the sobbing redhead blubbered. "He kissed her the same night our second date went badly! Th-this is my fault. I should've just had sex with him."

"This is _not_ your fault, April," Reed assured her, hugging her roommate as she soothingly rubbed her back. She was determined to give Jackson a piece of her mind at the party. "He's a stupid boy and he let his penis do the thinking for him."

April pulled away from Reed and dried her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "Should I be this upset? I mean, he kissed her, but I'm freaking out like he's been having sex with her too."

"Yes, you should be. He kissed _our_ boss and because of that he's receiving an unfair advantage at work," she resentfully said. "And he didn't have the balls to tell you. Jackson may be this hot piece of man, but he's a crappy boyfriend. He sabotages your relationship with Zach to get closer to you and what do you get out of it? He kisses somebody else. Who does that?"

"Guys who want sex from their girlfriends, but can't have it," the not so perky intern sobbed, burying her face into her hands. "But I didn't think he was _that_ guy. I thought he was loyal. He's supposed to be my friend!"

"I'm really sorry Jackson's a dick. Do you want me to stay with you tonight? We could just watch movies until the final countdown," Reed offered.

"No, it's fine. You should go to the party. I'll be okay," she insisted and lifted her head up to look at her roommate. "I don't want you giving up your fun just because I have the worst luck with boyfriends."

A knock on the door alerted both women. Reed slid off of April's bed. "That's probably Zach. I'll be right back." She left the bedroom to answer the door. Instead of Nurse Rock Star waiting on the other side, it was Jackson. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms in annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

Jackson slipped his hands inside of his pockets as he bounced back and forth on his heels. "I need to talk to April."

"She's not here."

"I saw her car parked outside," he answered with a smirk.

"Well, she doesn't want to see you, jackass," Reed retorted, taking a step back to close the door.

Jackson held the door open with his hand. "Listen, I'm sure she told you what happened, but it's not what you think. I made an idiotic mistake, alright?" he replied defensively. "I have never had any thoughts about sleeping with Swanson. All of my perverted, sex infested thoughts have always been about April."

Reed stared back at him slightly disgusted. "Not that I needed to know that, but I don't particularly care either," she countered irritably. She noticed his half-shaved eyebrow and laughed. "Did you know you're missing half of an eyebrow?"

"Actually, I absolutely had no idea," he sarcastically said. "Thanks for pointing that out for me."

Their conversation was interrupted by Zach, who arrived moments later. "Uhh, hey," he awkwardly greeted them. He exchanged a quick glance with Jackson before he smiled at Reed. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get my purse," Reed answered and disappeared into her apartment.

The two men stood outside avoiding eye contact with each other. Jackson continued to resent Zach for being a better boyfriend to April than he was. She never felt the pressure to have sex with the nurse nor did she have to worry about him cheating on her. Nurse Rock Star was almost too perfect that it made him sick.

"Are you here to pick up April?" he asked the intern.

"Umm… no. I just missed her," Jackson lied. "I was about to leave."

"Oh, okay." Zach forced himself to smile. "How are you two doing? Everything good?"

_Does this dope know about Swanson? _Jackson asked himself in his mind. Why would Zach care about how his relationship with April was going? He wasn't in the mood to chat with him. They were never going to be friends either.

"We're alright," he muttered. "So, you're into Reed now? Is getting close to her best friend your way of sticking around?"

"Honestly, I'm not into Reed. She's cool, but nothing's going to happen between us," Zach admitted and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm waiting for the best time to tell her that. April and I are still friends, though. Do you feel threatened or something?"

"Of course not," Jackson scoffed, then he grinned at Zach. "Do _you_ feel threatened by me?"

Zach chuckled. "Yeah, I'm so threatened by a guy who's missing half of an eyebrow," he quipped, gesturing his finger towards his own eyebrow. "Trust me when I say it's not an attractive look."

"Whatever," he mumbled and left the apartment complex. Nothing was more embarrassing than getting burned by Nurse Rock Star. He also wanted to kill Charles even more for ruining his pretty face.

* * *

The New Year's Eve party at the apartment would have been more eventful for Jackson if his date hadn't fled after under five minutes of interaction. He believed he did the right thing by telling April the truth, despite the fact that she would likely avoid him for the next few days. He attempted to contact her through phone calls and text messages, but none of them were returned.

Jackson sulked in the kitchen with his beer. He wasn't in the mood to mingle with any of the guests, so he thought about hiding in his bedroom. Grabbing two more bottles from the refrigerator, he made his way through the crowded area, stopping halfway when he heard a knock on the door. Answering the door, he was surprised to see Swanson. He hadn't invited her, so either word spread about their party or one of his roommates made the boneheaded decision to extend an invitation to their resident.

"Umm… Dr. Swanson," he reluctantly greeted her.

"Hello, Jackson," the blonde happily replied. "Are you going to let me in?"

Jackson stepped aside as she entered his apartment. He remained confused about her presence. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. How'd you know about this party?"

"Percy invited me. One of the few times I actually listened to him," Swanson answered while she removed her jacket, revealing a tight fitting red sleeveless top. And she was purposefully showing off cleavage none of the men knew existed. "Where can I hang this?"

"A-anywhere's fine… as long as you remember where you left it," he replied, trying to keep his eyes away from her cleavage. Now he felt like an even bigger douche. "Do you want a drink?"

Swanson took one of the beers in Jackson's hand. "I'd love one. Thank you." She opened the bottle, taking note of the glum expression on her intern's face. "What are you so down about? Still not getting any?"

He scowled at her. "That's the least of my worries," he sternly responded. "Make yourself acquainted. There's plenty of booze to go around tonight."

Reed observed the exchange from afar, shaking her head in disgust. She decided to intervene, approaching the two doctors and clinging on to Jackson's arm. "Hey, April texted me. She said she's on her way here," she lied and dragged him away from Swanson.

"Is she really?" he asked, remaining hopeful April had changed her mind.

"Pshh, you wish," she sneered. They walked into the kitchen where it was less crowded, then she slapped Jackson's chest with the back of her hand. "What the hell is Swanson doing here? Are you seriously that lonely that you asked _her_ to come over?"

Jackson immediately shook his head. "I didn't invite her! Charles did," he insisted. "Why would I have plans to invite Swanson when I already told you I don't have feelings for her? I could be at your place with April, but you wouldn't let me inside."

"Because she doesn't want to be around you, Jackson! What part of that don't you understand?"

"I'm allowed to be concerned about my girlfriend."

"If you still have a girlfriend," Reed corrected him, then she poked his chest with her finger. "There's nothing you can do about April right now, but I better not catch you doing anything with Swanson. I have eyes on the back of my head, you know. I'll know if you're up to no good."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Since you're giving me a lecture on how I'm such a total moron, maybe it's my turn to do the same," he suggested before he pointed out Charles, who was wearing a backwards baseball cap to cover his bald head, in the living room. "You know Charles? Not Charlie or Charlie Brown, but _Charles_. The guy's been in love with you since medical school, but you're too blind to see that. You're busy swooning over men who aren't interested in you romantically."

Reed forced herself to laugh and dismissively waved her arms. "You're crazy. Charles doesn't feel that way about me," she claimed, gazing back at Charles in the living room. "He treats me like he's my obnoxious little brother. If he's felt that way for so long, he would've told me already."

"He can't tell you because you're always treating him like crap," he explained. "Behind that goofball exterior is a caring guy. Give him a chance."

"Fine, but telling me this doesn't make you the bigger person," she noted. "You're still a jackass for kissing Swanson."

Meanwhile, the front door opened and April let herself in. It was too quiet at her apartment. She wanted to spend the New Year with her friends while trying to ignore Jackson at the same time, which probably wouldn't happen, but she was going to try. The only person she wanted to talk to at the moment was Trevor. Dependable and a good listener, he was a safe choice considering she wouldn't have to worry about him hitting on her afterwards.

Scanning the living room for her friend, she spotted Swanson chatting with other party guests. After what she learned from Jackson, she loathed the third year resident more than anybody else. If she was going to fulfill her New Year's resolution, she decided it was best to start now. She approached the blonde, then she tapped her on the shoulder.

Swanson turned around and smiled at April. "Oh, Dr. Kepner. Did you just arrive?"

April shocked bystanders when she punched her square in the face. "Oww, oww, oww!" she shrieked, shaking her right hand before she grasped it with her left. As amazing as it felt to punch her superior, it also hurt like hell.

Trevor rushed to her side. "April, what the hell?" Not only was he surprised the perky intern punched Swanson but he was even more impressed by her boldness. He tried his hardest to hide the smile on his face. "Do you realize who you just punched?"

"You are going to be so sorry for that, Kepner!" Swanson warned the redhead while she clutched the left side of her face. Two other guests were restraining her as she desperately hoped to send a counterattack.

Jackson and Reed took notice of the mini fight in the living room. He saw Trevor checking on April's hand and walked towards her. "April," he called out. "When did you get here?"

"What is _she_ doing here?" April shouted as she pointed at Swanson. "First, you kiss her and then you invite her to your party?"

The vibe in the living room grew uncomfortable as people began snickering and whispering amongst each other. Most of the guests were also interns, so hearing about Jackson kissing Swanson was juicy hospital gossip.

"I didn't invite her! It was Charles!"

Charles dismissively waved his hand. "This isn't my fault, by the way. I had no idea Jackson was fooling around with Swanson."

"Not helping, bro," Jackson answered through gritted teeth. He reached for April's hand, but she flinched. "C'mon, April. Can we go somewhere private? You know, where everybody isn't watching us?"

"No," April angrily declined, then she stormed out of the apartment leaving everyone inside amused and speechless.

* * *

"I'm gonna get fired!" April panicked. She and Reed were sitting alone in the apartment building's stairwell. Slowly opening and closing her hand, she grimaced as she stared at her bruised knuckles. "Swanson will get me fired. The Chief worships her."

"She can't get you fired. This didn't even happen at work," Reed assured her. "Although, she might dump a ton of scut on you for the rest of our internship, but I doubt you'll lose your job over this. Besides, you can blackmail her with the whole sex for surgeries thing. There's no way the Chief would approve of that type of favoritism."

"I'd rather not work under her again."

"You can request for a new resident," her roommate suggested. Reed softly chuckled to herself. "I'm not gonna lie. What you did was ballsy and one of the best things ever. Swanson deserved what she got."

April frowned at Reed. "But that's not me. I don't confront people with violence. Are you sure I won't get fired?" she asked worriedly. "Maybe I should start looking at other hospitals just in case."

"You're paranoid." Reed gently patted April's shoulder. "Stop it. You'll be fine."

Jackson appeared with an ice pack. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "I uhh, got you some ice."

April grabbed the ice pack from him and held it against her knuckles. "Thank you," she murmured. "You can go now."

He gazed down at Reed, nodding his head back as a way to tell her to leave them alone. She initially shook her head, but she eventually caved in when he refused to leave. Sitting down beside April, he took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm glad you came back."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't come back to see _you_."

Jackson raised his eyebrow at her. "Who did you come back for? Zach?"

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" April scoffed. "Find me talking to my ex-boyfriend, blame me for cheating, make me look bad in front of everyone, so you can feel less worse about kissing Swanson. Right?"

"No, that's not it. I thought maybe… you were going to try to make me jealous with somebody else."

She quietly laughed to herself. "You obviously don't know me as well as you thought then."

He frowned as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry for hurting you. I don't blame you for being pissed at me. You should be, but I hope we can move past this and try to work. Despite what you think, it's never been about sex. Just tell me what I can do to make things better again. Please."

April tossed the ice pack onto Jackson's lap and stood up. "For starters, you can leave me alone," she advised.

Jackson dropped his head in defeat as she left him alone in the stairwell. There was an hour left until the New Year, but he would rather turn back time to the previous week before Schmo's, even before he decided to buy April a pathetic Christmas present. They were problem free then. And happy. So much for being the perfect gentleman he wanted to be for her.

* * *

Monday arrived and the interns were back at work. Swanson sported a black and blue bruise surrounding her left eye and while she tried to cover it up, it was still visible from afar. Charles took every opportunity he had to poke fun at it behind her back. He had never felt so proud of April. Jackson happily accepted scut over following around his resident for the day. He wanted time alone to come up with a way to earn back April's trust. She had been avoiding him since the party and he hadn't seen her at all in the hospital. And she definitely was working that day. He was certain of that because Reed confirmed it with him.

He wondered if she had switched residents, but that wasn't it. All of the intern groups remained the same. Texting her was hopeless, but paging her wasn't. Before meeting with her by one of the nurses' stations, he bought their typical orders of coffee. Baby steps first.

Jackson found her waiting by the nurses' station like he had hoped and walked towards her with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, the reaction wasn't reciprocated. She blankly stared back at him with her arms folded.

"You paged me for coffee?" she asked, unimpressed by the gesture.

"And to see you too," he added. "I haven't seen you all day."

April sighed. "Well, you can thank Swanson for that. I'm on rectal exam duty in the outpatient clinic for the entire week," she bitterly replied. "Anyway, I just had some coffee, so you can give that to her – and then have sex."

"When will you let me off the hook?" he asked in frustration. "How much longer are you going to hold a grudge against me? I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you, Jackson. I just… you're not my favorite person right now." She leaned back against the counter and stared down at her shoes. "Besides, I might not be here much longer. At least, that's the plan."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You're leaving?"

"Seattle Grace has some openings, so I applied for a transfer yesterday," she announced. "I want to be able to learn and become the surgeon I strive to be without sleazy residents or other distractions getting in the way. It won't happen here if all I'm doing is sticking my finger up people's asses every day. It might be a while before I hear from them, so I'll just have to suck it up until then."

"Is that what you really want?" he questioned disappointedly.

April slowly nodded her head. "Yup. That's what I want." She softly laughed as she walked past Jackson. "It's just across town. It's not like I'm heading overseas."

"You can't just tell me that and walk away like it's not a big deal," Jackson retorted and followed her down the hallway. "You're transferring programs because of one stupid kiss. That's not fair."

"That one stupid kiss is the reason why I can't be around you. I don't trust you, Jackson," she straightforwardly said. "So I'm doing what's best for me by working at a hospital without you there. Once I'm gone, you'll be over me within a week. There are plenty of other women here who are interested in you."

"Yeah, but I don't want those women, April," he insisted. "Why can't you give me another chance?"

"Because we don't want the same things!" she exclaimed, stopping at an elevator and pushing the down button furiously. "I like old fashioned romance, while you like… all the other stuff. I'll give you credit for trying, though."

She walked inside of the elevator when it arrived, but Jackson didn't follow her. "So, we're done? Just like that?"

"I'm trying to make things easier for you. You're free to be with whoever you want now," April implied with a frown on her face. "I find it hard to believe you'd fall in love with a person like me anyway."

After the elevator doors closed, Jackson kicked the wall beside him. He hated how easily she gave up because she let her insecurities take over again. And he thought she was completely wrong about her last comment. They hadn't been dating very long, but he considered her his closest friend since they met almost six months ago. In the past, he let many women go without thinking twice about them. That wasn't the case with April. He wanted to fight for her.

Because he was slowly, but surely, beginning to fall in love with her.


	15. Friend Zoned

**Thank you for the reviews! This chapter's a bit on the lighter side, mostly Japril interactions in this one.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"God dammit," Charles groaned in frustration as he failed to perfect a two-handed square knot. He and the other interns were practicing various knotting techniques in the skills lab. "My fingers are too freaking fat to get it right."

"You need to relax first," Reed, who was sitting beside him, advised. She watched her friend attempt another square knot, but he messed up halfway through. "Hold on a second. I see the problem. You've got it the wrong way. Your left thumb is supposed to pass under the suture end, not over. That's why you keep screwing it up."

At the table beside theirs, April watched Reed praise Charles for finally completing his knot. Two weeks ago, she would have teased him for not being able to perform a basic surgical knot. She likely wouldn't have helped him either. They weren't dating. Charles still wasn't aware that Reed knew he was in love with her. While she was confused about how to handle those feelings, she acted differently towards him. She even stopped calling him Charlie.

It was adorable seeing those two interact. April internally rooted for Charles to win the girl he had always wanted. He was the underdog, kind of like her. Although, she already successfully had a chance with the guy she wanted and it didn't turn out to be as amazing as she originally thought. She had gotten past her anger towards Jackson, but their friendship wasn't what it used to be. They talked occasionally, mostly for work related purposes.

She missed him. Being friends with him, kissing him. A part of her wanted to forgive him, but she also preferred standing her ground. Just because he had always been sweet and caring towards her, it didn't erase the fact that Jackson kissed another woman. Even though Swanson stopped punishing her for giving her a black eye, her attitude towards the redhead was definitely colder. Seattle Grace hadn't contacted her yet, which made her less hopeful she could transfer into their program. She thought she might have to request a new resident instead.

Jackson sat directly behind her, observing her interactions with Trevor. He noticed they had been hanging out more frequently since he and April broke up. And he didn't enjoy one bit of it. His roommate could be just as charming as he was. He hated to admit it, but he felt a little threatened by him.

"I'm done," April chirped, raising her hand for the resident to check on her work.

Paul Wright was a fifth year as well as Chief Resident. He approached April, standing in front of her table as he examined her knots. "Your square knot looks pretty good, as does your surgeon's knot. The slip knot's perfect too," he acknowledged, smiling at the intern. "How about you show me a square knot using the one-handed technique?"

"Sure. Although, I haven't quite perfected that yet," she sheepishly replied.

"It's no problem. That's what the skills lab is for," he assured her.

Jackson wanted to smack the smile on Paul's face. From what he had heard about the guy, he was the last person his peers expected to be named Chief Resident. Something about flying under the radar throughout most of his residency until fourth year when he began to show up his fellow residents in the OR. Then a project he suggested involving skin grafts earned him the job. Rumor was he stole the idea from another resident, though.

Paul was the opposite of Jackson, appearance wise. He wore thick navy blue glasses, but he apparently only used them to make himself look smarter than he was. He wasn't particularly lanky, though he wasn't built like the pretty boy either. To Jackson, he was kind of a douche face. Probably because he suspected Paul was trying to flirt with April.

"Not bad, Kepner," the Chief Resident complimented, picking up one of April's hands. "You have quick hands. They're delicate and soft too. I like it."

Jackson cleared his throat and raised his hand. "I'm done too," he called out.

"Let's see what you got, Avery," Paul said as he walked over to the next table. Skimming Jackson's work, he quickly pointed out his slip knot. "That one needs work. Aren't you Avery's supposed to be perfect?"

He clenched his fist as the fifth year moved on to another table. It had been a while since people at the hospital made a big deal about the Avery name and he hated how Paul ridiculed him. Avery's weren't perfect. They aimed to be, but they had their flaws. Jackson was also certain the older surgeon would have spent another five minutes chatting with April if he hadn't interrupted them.

Leaning forward, he reached out and tapped her shoulder. "Psst! April," he whispered, flashing a half-smile when she turned around. "Can you help me for a second, please?"

"You don't need help. Your knots are fine," she insisted.

"No, I need help," he persisted, giving her the puppy lip. "Please?"

April softly laughed. "Really? The puppy lip?" She slightly cringed when he started whimpering like a dog. "Fine. Just stop making that sound. It's embarrassing."

Jackson grinned to himself as she scooted her chair closer to his table. "Four eyes says my slip knot needs work. What do you think?"

"I don't know," she answered while she stared at his knots. "I'm not an expert, so I can't tell you if it's bad or not. He probably just wanted to crap on you because you're an Avery. Most of the people here do."

"You don't crap on me for being an Avery."

"No, I just crap on you for being a liar," she bluntly responded.

He rolled his eyes. "It was _one_ lie. Okay, there were two-"

"_Two_ lies?" April interrupted as a scowl formed on her face. "What's the other lie?"

"Well, before your ugly sweater party, Swanson approached me and offered to sleep with me in exchange for cardio surgeries. I told you that part… just not when it happened, so can we call it a half-lie?" Jackson smiled to ease the tension, but April wasn't buying it. She continued to scowl at him. "I'm sorry. I really want things to be back to the way they were before any of that happened."

"Your eyebrow's growing back fast," she pointed out, changing the subject. "Did you do the Rogaine thing?"

Jackson slowly nodded. "I did, though I had to make sure not to get any of it outside of my eyebrow. The last thing I want is an eyebrow growing on my forehead, you know?" he quipped, making her smile. "Umm, is it looking alright?"

"It's nice. You did a good job," she truthfully said.

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

"I am… watching some movies with Trevor at my apartment."

His stomach started to hurt a little bit. She and his roommate alone at her place? He almost wanted to kill him. "Like a date?" he replied curiously.

April chuckled. "No. It's not a date," she answered with a smirk. "Why? Would that upset you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I think it would be pretty shitty of Trevor to date my ex," he said out loud, drawing attention from the rest of the interns in the room with them. Trevor simply stared back at him confused. "Just trying to get my point across."

"Yeah, we all heard you, doofus," Reed retorted, eliciting laughter from their peers. "Get over yourself, Avery."

April shook her head and sighed. "That was more embarrassing than the dog whimpering," she whispered. "So, I'm supposed to trust you, but you can't trust me or anybody who looks at me?"

"I've always trusted you. That hasn't changed," Jackson assured her.

"Okay, then do you want to come over and join us?" she offered, biting on her lower lip. "Since you seem to be so overprotective about who I hang out with now…"

"I'm not overprotective." He innocently picked at the loose end of one of his knots. "Uhh… what time?"

April playfully rolled her eyes and pushed her seat back towards her own table. "Eight o'clock. Don't be late."

Jackson smiled proudly as she faced forward again. He hadn't expected an invitation to her apartment, but he gladly accepted it. Even though April hadn't exactly forgiven him for lying to her yet, he was relieved that she wasn't shutting him out completely. Two weeks of giving her space seemed to be working to his advantage.

* * *

It wasn't a date, but Jackson wanted April to know how much he appreciated her. He wore the Boston Celtics jacket she gave him for Christmas hoping she wouldn't ask for it back when she sees him wearing it. To make the mood casual, he brought along with him two packs of beer – and a large sized bag of Sour Patch Watermelons, April's guilty pleasure candy. He used the back of his hand to knock on the door and patiently waited for an answer.

April opened the door, immediately staring at him amused as he grinned at her with the bag of Sour Patch dangling from his teeth. "You're early," she greeted him, giggling as she took the Sour Patch from his teeth. "Thank you. Come in."

Jackson entered the apartment, kicking the door closed behind him. The living room was quiet and Trevor was nowhere to be seen. "Did Trevor bail?" he asked, sounding optimistic his roommate decided not to show up.

"He's picking up the pizza," she replied nonchalantly. "He'll be here soon."

"Umm, I brought over some beer. They're still cold," he mentioned, setting them on the coffee table before he sat down on the couch. Jackson picked up the DVD's sitting beside the beer. He couldn't help but grimace at the movies she rented. "_Love Actually_ and _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_? Trevor won't want to watch either of these."

"Oh, really? He picked them," April countered and laughed when Jackson looked back at her stunned. "I thought you would've known Trevor's a fan of the _Harry Potter_ series since you live with him. Then again, you and Charles have your thing, so he's typically left out."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I'll be the one left out now. Reed seems to be warming up to Charles, so if they get together, I'll be alone since you have Trevor keeping you company," he muttered disappointedly.

"I can't say I don't blame you," she replied unperturbedly while she opened the bag of Sour Patch Watermelons. "We were probably better off as friends."

His heart ached a bit after she said that. He respectfully disagreed mainly because he couldn't be just friends with her. Their relationship was unique. In high school and college, he wouldn't have spent a second thinking about a woman like April. He had grown less judgmental about the type of women he dated. Rachel was a mistake. She was an example of his college and medical school days. Keep the eyes on the hot women and ignore the average girls.

And his feelings for her wasn't infatuation or puppy love or lust. It was love. He was sure of it, but he was afraid to tell her because he hadn't experienced being in love. Maybe there were one or two women he thought he _could_ love. They weren't around long enough for him to figure it out, though. And after hurting April with his lies, why would she love him back?

The way his relationship with April developed differed from the women he knew in the past - friends first, lovers second. In the past, the Neanderthal side of him was spot woman, have sex with her within an hour or two. Of course, he hadn't slept with the redhead yet, let alone seen her naked. He respected her by not pressuring her into having sex with him. While he wasn't the most patient person in the world, he meant what he said when he promised to wait.

So just being friends wasn't an option for him. He wouldn't back down without a fight.

"Is it because Zach still has feelings for you?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow. "Are you thinking about getting back together with him?"

She folded her arms and sighed in annoyance. "Sometimes I think you're obsessed with Zach. You talk about him more than I do," she retorted, shaking her head as she walked out of the living room after she heard her cell phone ringing in her bedroom. "Jackson, I swear…"

Jackson gently slapped his forehead with the DVD's before he placed them on the coffee table. Bringing up April's ex-boyfriend didn't earn him any points from her. Quietly sitting alone on the couch, he tapped his fingers against his knees as he listened to the loud, high-pitched voice echo from her bedroom. From what he could pick up, she was on the phone with baby sister Alice. When her voice faded away he figured out she closed the door. She was definitely talking about him and his stupidity now.

He was disappointed she never acknowledged the jacket she bought him. Perhaps the bag of Sour Patch Watermelons distracted her. At least she didn't throw it back at his face after the Zach comments. Instead, she brought it with her to her bedroom, so she could pig out on them.

Kicking his legs up on top of the coffee table, he accidentally knocked off a few magazines and a book. As he bent over to pick them up, he noticed the white colored book on the floor. It was his Christmas present for April. She didn't burn his gag gift after all. He wondered if she had bothered opening it. Then he saw the red colored tabs sticking out of the book, making him even more curious.

His eyes widened when he flipped open _The Joy of Sex_ to the first tab. To his surprise, April bookmarked various pages! It couldn't have been Reed. She wouldn't have taken the book as seriously as her roommate. He was a thousand percent certain it was April's doing.

What surprised him more were the pages she specifically chose to bookmark. For somebody who was shy about sex, she had been bold about the positions she picked. Some of them he hadn't even heard of or done himself.

"How does one do _that_?" he asked himself, tilting the book sideways with his head following suit. Scrunching his nose, he couldn't understand how the position worked without somebody getting hurt. "Ouch."

If April was as flexible as the woman in the book, then he felt like an even bigger idiot for screwing up their relationship. He let out a soft whistle after flipping to another page. So far, the woman was the domineering partner in the positions he skimmed through, which made him laugh because his perky ex-girlfriend's appearance hardly screamed that. There was an inner sex kitten hiding underneath that bashful exterior.

A few minutes later, she finally came out from her bedroom and he didn't hesitate to confront her about the book.

"You've been lying too," Jackson insinuated, drawing a puzzled look from April. He smugly grinned as he held up the book to one of her bookmarked pages, dangling it with his thumb and index finger as if he discovered her thong. "Page 152? Seriously?"

She couldn't find the words to answer him, her cheeks quickly turning a bright shade of red. "I-I… I was curious," she stammered, nervously biting down on her lower lip. "It doesn't mean anything."

"So, how bendy are you exactly?" he teasingly asked.

"Shut up! You've probably done 75% of those positions already," she scoffed, throwing a piece of Sour Patch at Jackson. "What's wrong with being curious?"

Jackson picked up the Sour Patch on his lap and ate it. "Nothing's wrong," he chuckled. "I just didn't expect you to open the book at all. In fact, I thought you'd give it back to me, but I hope you weren't looking to ask for this jacket back."

"You can keep the jacket, okay? I bought it before we started dating, so it's not a big deal."

"Alright then. Back to the original topic," he suggested, flipping through a few pages in the book. "Which one do you think is more comfortable, page 152 or…"

April covered her eyes with her hand and gasped when he opened to a page she was embarrassed about bookmarking. "Th-that one was intriguing, but… I don't think I'd consider doing that position."

Jackson snickered. "Are you sure?" He briefly glimpsed at the page, then he looked back at her. "I think it's manageable."

She removed her hand from her face, shooting him a dirty look. "We're _not_ having sex, especially now." Finally approaching him, she grabbed the book from his hand and smacked his face with a small pillow. "If you tell Charles or anybody-"

"That you're into kinky sex positions?" he finished her sentence, laughing as she hit him with the pillow again. "C'mon, April. This is funny. You can't tell me you giggled at the contents of that book."

"Jackson Avery, if you don't stop, I will call your mother and tell her what you did," she warned.

"My mother?" Jackson scratched the back of his neck, smirking at her. "What's she going to do?"

"I don't know… but she gave me her number and e-mail when she was here for Thanksgiving," she explained, although he wasn't entirely convinced she was telling the truth. "She said I can call her whenever I needed help – and to report any silly behavior from you."

"You're bluffing."

April pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and opened her contacts list. After finding Catherine Avery's name, she held it out in front of Jackson, whose mouth slightly dropped open. "Still think I'm bluffing?"

He tried to snatch the phone out of her hands, but she was quick enough to move her arm away. "Have you and my mother been talking about me behind my back?"

"No. Actually, we haven't spoken since Thanksgiving. Does she even know you and I were dating for real?"

"Umm… nope," he guiltily replied. "And uhh, she would be giving me a never ending lecture for hurting you. I'd rather not have to deal with that because she thinks you're good for me."

"Oh, please. I know you love to sweet talk to me, but I'm not buying that one," she dismissed, shaking her head.

Jackson pointed at himself. "Want me to prove it? I will. I can still remember exactly what she told me when I walked her to her taxi outside," he claimed, moving over to the coffee table and sitting sideways. In his best Catherine voice, he waved his hand the same way his mother would and said, "April's much better than all of the past ex-girlfriends I met. Don't be a fool and let that one go."

April laughed hysterically at the pretty boy's impersonation because it was spot on. The mannerisms and the voice matched almost perfectly with Mama Avery's. He never failed to make her laugh. "You know, you could play your mother if a film's made about her life."

He grimaced. "I'm not so sure I can walk in her heels, though," he playfully remarked. "Do you believe me now?"

"I suppose, but here's something you didn't know – she knew we weren't dating when she visited," she admitted sheepishly. "I uhh… tried to lie about our first date during her surgery and she caught me. It would've helped if I knew you were allergic to crab."

"Hmm… I can see how that would've helped." Jackson stared at April's smiling face. She wasn't blushing as much as before, but her cheeks continued to show a light shade of red. Her hair was up in a ponytail, so he could see her entire face. So beautiful. "I miss you."

Just as she was about to answer him, a knock on the door distracted her from focusing on Jackson. "Trevor's here," she cheerfully announced and walked to the front door.

"Dammit," he mumbled, standing up and pouting. Trevor entered the apartment holding an extra large pizza box. Why did he have to ruin the moment?

"Half pepperoni, half sausage and mushroom like you asked, April," his roommate said as he set the pizza on the coffee table. He noticed Jackson glaring at him and he shrugged. "What? You don't like either?"

Jackson plopped down on the couch. "Nevermind," he groaned, opening the box and taking a slice of pepperoni pizza.

April brought out three plates from the kitchen and handed one to Jackson. "Neither of you are staining the couch, got it? Remember to use a napkin," the clean freak part of her reminded them. "Which one do you want to watch first? _Love Actually_ or _Harry Potter_?"

"Whichever doesn't make me fall asleep," he unenthusiastically answered with a mouthful of pizza.

"_Love Actually_ it is!" she decided, to her ex-boyfriend's dismay. "Trevor, why don't you sit in the middle? I'll go ahead and put in the DVD."

Jackson inhaled sharply as Trevor sat down beside him. He hated how April was doing everything she could to resist him. Putting his roommate in between them was the icing on the cake. They were back to being friendly with each other and exchanging harmless teasing, but she was restraining herself from getting too close to him again. He wasn't into rom-coms or anything considered a chick flick. If he wanted to win back the points he lost from her, he was going to have to suck it up and force himself to be interested.

* * *

Waking up to the sounds of April and Trevor debating over names he didn't recognize, Jackson opened his eyes to find a different movie playing on the TV screen. Sometime halfway through _Love Actually_, he dozed off. By the time he awoke from his nap, they were watching _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. The two interns beside him hadn't noticed he was awake as they continued to argue back and forth over a topic he knew nothing about.

"I'm telling you, Dumbledore's gay!" Trevor insisted.

_What the hell is a Dumbledore?_

Jackson stretched his arms over his head and groaned, startling April. He pushed himself up from the couch as he walked out of the living room. "Pee break," he murmured and disappeared into the bathroom.

This gave April the opportunity to unleash some thoughts she couldn't tell him to his face. "He's killing me, Trevor," she whispered. "Every time I want to stay mad at him, he does something to draw me back in."

"So… just get back together with him," Trevor suggested before he sipped his beer. "What's the problem? The guy's sorry and he's mad crazy about you. Honestly, I initially wanted to kick his ass when he told me he kissed Swanson, but now… I'm starting to feel bad for him."

"What? Why? He's the one who screwed up!"

"Yes, but he could've done worse. He stopped himself, didn't he?" Trevor noted. "Plus, I'm convinced he believes I have a thing for you and he's been looking at me like he wants to murder me since I arrived."

April sat back against the couch with her arms folded. "Well, I'm not ready to forgive him. I trusted him more than I've trusted any other man and he still hurt me," she replied, frowning at the TV. "And he's too good for me. I'm like way below his standards."

"That's bull," he disagreed, dismissively waving his hand. "He's been trying his best to please you and unfortunately, a bunch of crap resulted from it. The bad dates aren't a sign you two shouldn't be together. Those were just bad luck – and a bit of stupidity on Jackson's part. Putting yourself down won't make things better."

"I'm sorry. I'm just used to doing it a lot," she muttered.

Trevor gently patted April's knee. "Well, stop it. Jackson sees something that you obviously don't, but I'm sure you'll discover what it is eventually… hopefully… before he moves on."

The redhead nudged his side with her elbow. "Shut up." Her cell phone rang on her lap. She didn't recognize the number, but she answered it anyway. "Hello? Yes, this is she. Oh, it's no problem at all. I understand."

Trevor silently watched her mood become brighter by the second. Whoever was on the phone with her had certainly turned her frown upside down. He looked up at Jackson, who returned from the bathroom, quickly shrugging when he nodded his head towards April.

"Monday's perfect. No, no. Thank _you_. Bye," she excitedly said before she hung up. April glanced back at the two men with a grin on her face. "That was Dr. Webber from Seattle Grace. He was backed up with work, but he called to tell me that I have an interview set up on Monday. My application to transfer was accepted."

Jackson forced himself to smile, but he was hurting inside. Despite their friendship slowly growing back together, it bothered him that she still wanted to transfer out of the Mercy West program. "That's cool… I guess," he unhappily congratulated her.

"It's just an interview," April added, trying not to make a big deal about it. "I'm not guaranteed anything yet."

"Well, good freakin' luck regardless," he sneered, picking up his jacket from the couch. "Thanks for inviting me over, but I think I should head home now. Goodnight."

"Jackson-" She jumped in her seat when he left her apartment, slamming the door shut. "Awesome. He hates me."

Trevor slightly smiled at her. "Duh. You're trying to leave Mercy West in order to run away from him. I'd hate you too," he admitted, chuckling when she slapped his arm.

"Thanks for the support," she answered irritably. "Let's finish the movie, so I can politely kick you out afterwards."

* * *

The next morning, April stepped out of the elevator for another shift at the hospital. She genuinely felt terrible about hurting Jackson's feelings, though she reminded herself they wouldn't have been in their current position had he stayed faithful to her. But gloating about her Seattle Grace interview in front of him was definitely not the smartest move. She had been enjoying his company at the apartment except she didn't want to let him feel too comfortable being alone with her.

Walking into the locker room, she found Jackson sitting on the floor and leaning back against the lockers while he read a book. He was already dressed in his scrubs, but he decided to kill some time before reporting to Swanson.

She stepped over the bench in between the lockers to get to her own. "Good morning, Jackson," she softly greeted him. He mumbled in response as she looked down at him. "Umm, what are you reading?"

Jackson held up his book, showing the cover to her. It was _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_. "I found out what a Dumbledore is," he proudly bragged. "Dumbledore is a person."

"Yes, you're correct," she giggled. Instead of changing into her scrubs, April sat down on the bench. With those pretty bluish-green eyes following her every move, she had to sit down. His eyes made her legs grow weak. "I'm sorry about last night. I know how you feel about me possibly leaving, so it was insensitive of me to react the way I did about Seattle Grace."

"Maybe I shouldn't have been such an ass." He bookmarked the current page of his book and set it on the floor. "But I don't want you go leave. I'm not going to pretend I don't care because I do."

"So if I do leave, would you move on to somebody else?" April inquired while she fidgeted with the strap of her purse.

Jackson laughed to himself. "You'd only be across town. I may have to stalk you then," he quipped. "And I'm reading _Harry Potter_ to relate better to you. I want to know why you're such a big fan of this series. Honestly, I've never been into this wizardry stuff, but this is pretty cool."

"I'm still going to the interview," she insisted, sighing after he rolled his eyes at her. "It's possible I won't like it there, so I could end up doing my entire residency here."

"I wish you just wouldn't even bother." He moved up to the bench, sitting beside her. "Trying to be just friends isn't going to work. And I know you know that, so if you could just give me one more chance-"

"Dude! What are you two still doing in here?" Charles interrupted after entering the locker room. "We've got rounds in five minutes. I bumped into Swanson and she's _not_ in the best of moods, so move your asses!"

April quickly stood up and unlocked her locker. "You should go. I'll catch up with you guys," she advised. "I really don't want another week of rectal exams because I was late."

Charles waved his arm at Jackson. "C'mon, Avery!"

Jackson picked up his book from the floor, then he followed his roommate out of the locker room feeling annoyed with him. "Thanks for ruining my chance of convincing April to get back together with me," he retorted, nudging Charles from behind. "I was _so_ close."

"Oh, boohoo. You can try again later," he casually replied. "The wrath of Swanson is more important than your girl problems right now. I'd like to be on a case today instead of suture duty in the pit."

"Did you know she's still considering leaving for Seattle Grace?"

"So what?" Charles answered with a shrug.

"I think I love her, man." Jackson bumped into Charles after his roommate stopped in his tracks. It was the first time he openly admitted it and it was to his burly friend of all people.

"Really?"

He nodded eagerly. "And I don't know how to tell her. I can't just flat out say it because she'll likely assume I'm simply saying it to win her back. She needs to know I'm sincere. Help me," the pretty boy begged.

"You're asking _me_ for advice? Are you sick today?" Charles jokingly asked, placing his hand against Jackson's forehead. "I'd help you out if I knew how to, but I haven't grown the balls to tell Reed how I feel about her yet."

"Uhh, she knows," Jackson confessed, patting Charles' shoulder. "Why do you think she's been nicer to you? I think she's finally seeing the light, bro."

"Well, holy shit," he chuckled, then he gasped. "Holy shit! She knows?!"

Jackson threw his arms up in confusion when Charles walked away from him in a state of panic. "Hey, what about me?" His roommate ignored him making him even more agitated.

He couldn't talk to Reed because she would probably spill the beans to April and Trevor annoyed him too much to want to seek advice from him. For now, he was on his own.

Maybe he should have stayed awake during _Love Actually_ for tips.

* * *

**And for the record, I have never opened _The Joy of Sex_ lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a little bit of fluffiness ;)**


	16. Acts of Man

**Thank you for the reviews! So, no Grey's today, but here's some more Japril for you :) At least we know there will be some sort of interaction between them when the show's back. Anyway, hope you like this chapter and let me know what you think please!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Monday morning. Nobody ever liked Monday mornings because they were sluggish and the starting point of another week of 80-hour shifts at Mercy West. Although the interns had gotten used to the routine, they were all looking forward _and_ dreading the internship exam in June. Some were lucky to stick their fingers inside of an open body cavity, while others weren't handed the same fate. By then, residents and attendings had their favorites whether they made it known or not.

So Jackson couldn't understand why anybody would want to transfer out of one program and into another in the middle of their internship. Changing hospitals meant learning new protocols and having to suck up to bosses who likely preferred the interns who were in their program since the beginning. It was a waste of time in his mind. He thought April was making a mistake in possibly leaving for Seattle Grace. She would be the new kid and he worried the interns there wouldn't warm up to her perky personality as well as her current coworkers did.

Or perhaps he was letting his feelings get in the way, making him a little selfish. Why couldn't he just tell her he loved her? Because he felt like a pansy having never said it before. Saying those three important words for the first time could come off as cheesy or an act of desperation, especially now.

Not that he had the opportunity to tell her. April wasn't working that day. Instead, she was on her way to Seattle Grace for her interview. He sent her a good luck text message, though he didn't actually mean it.

"You're a sad man, Avery," Reed teased after she entered the locker room. Jackson was seated on the bench in front of her roommate's locker, simply staring at it like it had special meaning to him. "April didn't die. She's just about a half hour away."

"Yeah, I'm aware," he retorted, looking back at her with a scowl on his face. "So, are you and Charles a thing now?"

"What? No," the brunette chuckled as she opened her locker. "We've just been hanging out more. I didn't realize he could be so fun when he's not making fart jokes or being an ass. He actually knows how to be a gentleman. Maybe you can get some pointers from him."

Jackson stared at her unamused. "Are you being sarcastic?" he asked skeptically.

Reed shook her head. "Nope. I'm serious," she nonchalantly replied while she started changing into her orange scrubs. "I don't really know what's going on between you and April. She surprisingly won't talk about it, which is strange since she tends to ramble a lot. But when it's about you she's mute. Care to fill me in?"

"She says we should only be friends, but I know that's not what she really wants," he dejectedly answered. "I think she's afraid of getting hurt again. I'm not that guy, though. I learned my lesson the first time."

"Wait a little bit more. I think she'll eventually take you back," she advised.

"You think so?" Jackson smirked at his fellow intern. "Haven't you been siding with her all along? You sincerely believe there's hope left for us?"

Reed finished changing into her scrubs and wore her lab coat. "Geez, Jackson. Just because I give you a ton of crap every day it doesn't mean I don't care about you as a friend," she insisted, nudging the pretty boy's shoulder with the back of her hand. "Plus, April's being stubborn. You screwed up, but she can't keep holding it against you."

"Wow," he sighed, then he laughed. "Seems like Charles is having a positive effect on you."

"Oh, shut up," she playfully bantered.

After closing her locker, Reed and Jackson left the room together. They reported to Swanson, who appeared agitated while she drank her coffee.

"Morning, guppies. I already sent Percy and Stanley to the pit. And if Kepner was here, I would've sent her down there too, but nope. She's busy trying to kiss ass at Seattle Grace," the blonde resident bitterly greeted them. "Scaring off interns is frowned upon here, so if she chooses to leave, she's going to make me look bad."

Jackson fought back his smile. He did want his resident to look stupid in front of their peers, but not at the expense of April transferring to Seattle Grace. "Umm, where do you need us?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Adamson, you're with me today and Avery, room 2102. Mr. Freeman needs to be monitored closely as he recovers from his liver transplant surgery," Swanson said, handing the patient's chart to Jackson. "And when I mean closely, I mean _closely_. We want to ensure his liver isn't rejected. You will be sitting in his room and watching for any signs and symptoms of rejection. That includes his urine bag. Keep an eye on it and page Dr. Winston if there's a change in color or you notice any other signs and symptoms."

"All day?"

"Liver transplants aren't taken lightly, so yes. All day," she confirmed before walking away. "Are you following me, Adamson?"

Jackson watched Reed scurry after Swanson down the hallway. He studied his patient's chart while on his way to his hospital room. Walking inside, he didn't expect to see Zach in the room with him. The nurse was adding medication to the patient's IV when they made eye contact.

"Good morning, Dr. Avery," Zach casually greeted him. "Mr. Freeman's vitals are stable. And so far, no signs of rejection from what I can see."

"Uhh, cool. Thanks," he awkwardly replied, sitting down beside Mr. Freeman's bed. The patient was asleep, so he would have to introduce himself later. "Will you be coming in frequently to change his urine bag?"

"No. Swanson informed me that you'll be doing it."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. "But it's your job."

"Yeah, but you're an intern and I'm not," Zach arrogantly said, smugly grinning at Jackson. He found joy in pushing the intern's buttons. "Have fun, Avery."

"Jackass," he muttered after Nurse Rock Star left the room.

Slouching in his chair, Jackson tapped his fingers against Mr. Freeman's chart. It took him three seconds before he quickly grew bored of his task. The other interns were given tasks that may include cutting or suturing people. His task? Stare at urine and make sure it didn't change colors.

Following around April like a stalker at Seattle Grace was more intriguing than what he was currently doing.

* * *

The interview with Richard Webber, the Chief of Surgery, seemed to go well. April thought she impressed him enough to be accepted into his program. Her recommendations from attendings at Mercy West also helped. He had hoped to have her watch a surgery from the gallery, but there weren't any occupied OR's following her interview. She noticed he appeared disgruntled over a quiet board, muttering something about how it meant bad news. Because there weren't any surgeries to watch, he sent her to the lobby where she would meet an intern who would take her on a tour of their hospital.

April had been waiting for at least ten minutes, slowly growing impatient. She thought maybe she had been stood up by whoever was supposed to give her the tour. At Mercy West, help would have already been waiting before she arrived.

A man in baby blue scrubs and a white lab coat passed by, only to take a step back and stop in front of her. "Do you need help or something?" he asked, though not in the most polite manner.

She assumed he noticed her dress attire and figured she was special. Looking at the man, she was positive she had seen him before. He had short brown hair and she couldn't deny that he was cute. "Oh, umm… I'm supposed to get a tour of the hospital," she shyly answered. "I-I I might be transferring here from Mercy West. I'm a surgical intern."

"Dude, I'm an intern too," he chuckled and held out his hand. "Alex Karev."

"April Kepner," she chirped, shaking his hand. "Do you know who's supposed to meet me here?"

"No freaking clue, but I can give you a tour," he offered, smiling at her. He moved closer, leaning against the counter of the nurses' station behind April. "I don't know how this tour crap works, but we could take a look at the on-call room first if you're up for it."

Her eyes grew wide in response. "Umm… d-don't you think that's unprofessional?" she nervously asked. "And I just met you, Dr. Karev. Also, I… kind of have this thing… with… another guy."

"So what? Dude doesn't have to know," Alex scoffed. "And kind of doesn't mean it's a _real_ thing. Unless this guy is a multimillionaire with helicopters and a private island, who cares about him? He's probably a dud if you only having a so-called kind of thing with him."

"He's definitely not a dud," she insisted, avoiding eye contact with the Seattle Grace intern. Since when did she suddenly become eye candy to attractive men? She thought maybe he had a special underwear radar because she was wearing her brand new black panties.

"Karev! What are you doing?" George intervened, quickly rushing towards the pair. He pointed at himself as he stood in front of them. "I'm supposed to be giving Dr. Kepner a tour, so go find some other innocent woman to harass."

Alex laughed to himself, placing his hands on his hips. "Did you know O'Malley got syphilis?"

"Did you know _he_ gave it to me?" George countered, smirking at his coworker.

April's mouth slightly dropped open, becoming even more uncomfortable. "Were you two… together?" she questioned, scrunching her face in confusion.

"No!" both interns yelped in unison.

"What happened was Alex here slept with this nurse I was dating and gave her syphilis. Then she and I slept together and she passed it on to me-" George winced after Alex slapped his shoulder. Neither of them were making much of an impression on April, who stared at them mortified. It was his third encounter with the Mercy West intern and he was certain he was about to strike out until he remembered, "I operated on a police officer. In an elevator."

"Oh! So you're that guy," she cheerfully replied. "I've heard people at Mercy West talk about you. Well, we just refer to you as the heart in an elevator person. That must have been ridiculously awesome. Were you freaking out or did you totally own that surgery?"

George folded his arms, smiling proudly. "Oh, I kicked that surgery's ass alright. I mean, Dr. Burke had to lead me through it from outside, but I killed it," he bragged before he nodded his head towards Alex. "And he was in there with me, but big, bad Alex choked."

Alex stood beside the shorter man and hovered above him. "Dude, I will freaking kick your ass if you don't shut up," he warned him. Facing April, he grinned back at her. "At this hospital, he's 007. He nearly butchered his patient during an appendectomy."

"But I redeemed myself," he defensively argued. "By saving a man and his heart _in an elevator_."

"So, is somebody going to give me a tour?" April finally grew impatient. While she couldn't help but feel a little flattered that two men were clearly fighting over her, neither of them were Jackson.

George cleared his throat, taking a step forward. "That would be me. We could start on the surgical wing or-" He attempted to rest his hand against the counter, but he miscalculated the distance between the nurses' station and himself causing him to clumsily fall over.

Alex rolled his eyes and softly chuckled. "Loser." He stepped over George and rested his hand against April's lower back. "Now, if you come with me, I can give you every possible reason why Seattle Grace is where you belong."

Pushing himself up from the floor, George chased after them and gently tugged on April's arm. "The on-call room is _not_ a part of the tour. Neither is the supply closet, so you should actually come with _me_."

Just as the two men began engaging in a game of tug of war with April's arms, she was fortunate to have another intern rescue her from potentially dislocating both of her shoulders. "Alex! George! What are you doing to the poor woman?" Izzie approached the threesome with a disgusted expression on her face. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Dr. Kepner's interested in transferring into the program from Mercy West. I'm supposed to be giving her a tour of the hospital, but Karev's trying to lure her away to an on-call room," George explained, immediately ducking his head when Alex swung at him. "She's mine!"

Izzie waved her arms. "Okay, okay! Let go of her. I doubt she'll want to come here if you two keep trying to split her in half," she scolded them, then she escorted April away from her friends. "I'm very sorry about that. Neither of them are getting laid, so they've resorted to acting like horny pigs."

"It's fine," she sheepishly replied. "Dr. Stevens, right?"

"You can call me Izzie. If you're planning on working here, we might as well jump ahead and get the first name introductions over with," she suggested as they strolled down the hallway. "Remind me what your first name is again."

"April. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to give me a tour. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, it's not a problem at all. I just finished up my rounds, so I've got nothing better to do," Izzie politely said. "And you do _not_ want to go anywhere with Alex. He can't be trusted. Believe me, I know. Not making that mistake again."

April softly groaned. "Men can be such jerks. My boyfriend- _ex_-boyfriend kissed our resident when he was drunk," she recalled. "He assumes we can go back to the way everything was before, but my resident hates me after I gave her a black eye."

Izzie laughed. "You punched your resident?" she asked, sounding impressed. Based on appearances alone, she didn't see April as someone who would punch the air in front of her. "Wow. If any of us punched our resident, we'd probably be in jail – and out of a job. A rule to remember: never mess with the Nazi."

"The Nazi?"

"Dr. Bailey. She's currently on maternity leave, but she's a tiny ball of fury," the blonde intern answered, clearing up the confusion. "So, McPretty is actually McDouchey?"

"I wouldn't necessarily say he's a douche, but he also lied to me. We're trying to be friends again." April sighed as she thought about Jackson. Seattle Grace was an impressive hospital, but it lacked the Avery sparkle. Leaving him behind in exchange for Horny Alex and Stalker George? Not exactly a fair trade. "People must think I'm insane for not having sex with him yet."

Izzie snickered. "Who wouldn't want to have sex with that?" she blurted out, drawing a scowl from April. "That was a rhetorical question. What are you afraid of?"

The redhead shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Maybe I've been wanting this silly fairy tale type of ending where the prince sweeps away the princess and they live happily ever after. Jackson was patient with me, despite how awful our dates were. I believe in old fashioned romance, that's all." She quickly shook her head. "And we only dated for a few weeks. That's practically a big deal in junior high school, but not at our age."

"That's longer than Alex and I, so there's nothing to be ashamed for. At least this Jackson guy didn't sleep with your resident. Everything would be more screwed up then," she assured April. "Is he still chasing after you like a depressed puppy?"

"Yes," she sighed. "And he gives me the puppy lip. It's adorable and embarrassing at the same time. Why does he even bother? His real type is… well, it's women like you, Izzie. I'm not gonna lie. You intimidate me."

"What are you talking about? Alex and George were freaking fighting over you," Izzie playfully retorted. "They didn't even do that with the dumbass nurse they both slept with. It's obvious to me you and your ex still have feelings for each other, so give him another chance. I highly doubt he's an asshole like Alex. Nobody can be a bigger douche than him."

April knew Jackson wasn't anything like Alex. In fact, he was pretty much the opposite of the Seattle Grace intern. She was certain he would have knocked out the brunette doctor if he had witnessed their interactions. He would do anything to protect her. And she always supported him whenever the other Mercy West doctors gave him grief for being an Avery. She had a feeling she wouldn't meet another man like him in the near future.

Perhaps Trevor was right. Jackson refused to give up on her, so why should she continue to look the other way? Her feelings for him were very much still alive. With the little information she told Izzie, even she advised her to give the pretty eyed boy a chance for redemption. The possibility of him throwing in the towel and returning to Rachel Lawson made her sick. He was a disgusting sex machine when he dated her. She most definitely didn't want to see that again.

Izzie's pager interrupted their conversation. "I'm needed at the pit," she said, turning around and walking the other direction. "Sorry for such a short tour, but I hope you'll consider Seattle Grace!"

"I'll just… usher myself out then," April softly said, though she was alone in the hallway.

The more Jackson's face appeared in her mind, the more she wasn't as attracted to Seattle Grace after all. The hospital was rated higher than Mercy West and she always wanted to learn from the best of the best. But her heart was yelling at her to stay for the man who made her stomach flutter every time he smiled at her. Those gorgeous bluish-green eyes, his perfect white teeth, his charming demeanor. She needed him as much as he needed her.

No more mind games. She wanted him back.

Stepping into the nearest elevator, April decided the tour of the hospital was meaningless because Mercy West was where she belonged. Even though she was no longer Swanson's favorite intern, she only had to deal with her crap for another five months. After that, she would officially be a resident and collaborating more with the attendings.

Inside of the elevator with her was a Latina woman dressed in baby blue scrubs. The woman noticed a Mercy West key chain dangling from April's set of keys. "You're from Mercy West?" she asked curiously. April nodded in response. "Do you know Valerie Swanson?"

"Uh huh," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "She's my resident, but she's also the skank who tried to seduce my boyfriend- well, we only dated for about three weeks, so I don't know if we could really call each other boyfriend and girlfriend-"

"I got what you meant," the woman cut her off and smiled. "I'm Callie Torres. Valerie was my roommate for a few months, but I moved out because she's an unbearable person to live with. All she does is nag and obsess over some guy named Jackson from work."

April gasped. "That's my boyfriend- ex-boyfriend!" She shook her head in disgust. "She tried to offer him sex for cardio cases. Then, he made the idiotic decision to kiss her, so… I punched her. Now she really hates me."

Callie started laughing. "You punched her? Huh, I wish I had the balls to do that. Someone had to drop her down a notch." She gestured her hand towards April. "So, why are you here? Did you get kicked out of Mercy West's program?"

"Oh, no. I applied to transfer here, but… I'm not so sure about it now," she admitted and gently bit on her lower lip. "I was trying to get out of Mercy West for the wrong reasons. It's not Seattle Grace, but we're good."

"If you say so," she casually replied. "Valerie's apparently still bitter that she got rejected from this hospital. Did you know Seattle Grace was her original choice?"

April slowly shook her head. She was surprised Swanson initially applied to Seattle Grace after constantly bragging about how she refused to follow the in-crowd. "Umm, no. She claims she chooses her own destiny by not going with the popular choice."

"What a load of crap," Callie scoffed. "Harvard rejected her too. She must be completely full of herself over there. Thank God I don't have to deal with her arrogance anymore."

"But she's published like six or seven articles as a third year. She's allowed to be arrogant."

"Off the record, she wrote only two of those." She smirked as April stared at her stunned. "For some reason, she felt obligated to spill a ton of her dirty laundry to me. She's not who you think she is."

April watched Callie leave the elevator after it reached her floor. She remained shocked over what she had learned about Swanson. A fake, a liar and a skank. And she somewhat idolized her resident until the kiss with Jackson happened. Only five more months, she reminded herself. After that, she was free from the scandalous blonde.

* * *

Two hours had passed and Jackson's patient hadn't shown signs of rejecting his liver transplant. For the intern, it was one of the most boring assignments he was given since his part-time duty to roll over Mrs. Tinsley at the beginning of his internship. Even bedpan duty was more exciting because he had actually done something physical on the job. With Mr. Freeman, his ass became numb from sitting on the same chair while he kept his eyes on the urine bag. No change so far.

He eventually dozed off, softly snoring as he tried to catch up on his sleep. A pen hitting his face woke him up immediately. He jumped in his seat and rubbed his eyes. After opening them, he saw Zach standing in front of him.

"What?" Jackson grumbled.

"Falling asleep on the job? Big no-no," Zach answered with a smirk and folded his arms. "How can you tell if Mr. Freeman's vitals have changed if you're snoozing away?"

"First of all, you're just a freaking nurse. And second, you're not my boss, so back off," the intern sneered, sitting up in his seat. He pointed at the sleeping patient. "He's stable, alright? Quit giving me a hard time simply because I broke your ass. You're supposed to be professional in a working environment. Hitting me with a pen could've done some serious damage."

Zach rolled his eyes and laughed. "I'm sure a pen will do more damage than flat out breaking my tailbone, Avery," he sarcastically said. "By the way, have you gone to anger management for that? You still haven't apologized for what you did either."

"Please, I went for the ball and accidentally caught you instead," Jackson insisted.

"Wow, are you that insecure around me that you have to lie to my face?" he teasingly replied. Nurse Rock Star was turning into Nurse Asshole fairly quickly to Jackson. "Or is it always going to be about April when it comes to you and me? If I recall clearly, I noticed her first. You couldn't handle that, so you did whatever you could to get in the way."

"Since we're talking about firsts, I was _friends_ with April before either of us knew of your existence," the pretty boy retorted. "I'm not sure why you feel the need to pick a fight with me right now. I haven't been bothering you with pointless crap."

"I'm picking a fight with you because you're an idiot," Zach bluntly said.

Jackson finally stood up from his seat, so he was standing face to face with the nurse. "Listen, Jacobs. I broke your ass once and I can do it again, so you better quit while you're ahead."

A smile formed on Zach's face, which only confused Jackson. "You're an idiot because you're in love with April, but you're too much of a wuss to tell her how you feel," he noted. "You big-headed surgical interns don't ever assume people outside of your inner circle can overhear your conversations. And I have eyes too, you know. I've observed you both long enough to figure it all out."

Jackson blankly stared at Zach. "Huh?" He forced himself to laugh. "Okay, you're picking a fight with me, so you can tell me how I feel about April? How about you just tell me without the smart ass comments?"

"Because I don't like you, Avery. You're the guy I wish I was to April," he admitted. "I could sing the most beautiful, tear jerking song to her and that won't change a thing. Think about it. You two would still be happy together or whatever if you hadn't kissed Swanson."

"Don't remind me," he murmured. "It's a mistake I'll probably never live down if April never lets me completely back in. She's… she's everything I've been looking for in a woman. It took me a while to realize this, but I'm not sure if the feeling's mutual. I've never fallen this hard for a girl before. For the first time, I don't know what I'm supposed to say or do."

Zach nudged Jackson's shoulder and softly laughed. "You're the sweet talker type. Do what you normally do, but with an 'I Love You' thrown in there. No reason to overanalyze the situation. Oh, and be honest. Tell her what she wants to hear."

Jackson's pager sounded and he immediately checked it. "I'm needed in the ER," he said, walking past Zach. Stopping in the doorway, he turned around to look at the nurse. "And uhh, thanks for being understanding."

"I still don't like you," he called out.

Laughing to himself as he walked towards the elevators, he pushed the down button to go downstairs to the ER. Whatever he was being paged for, he hoped it would be more productive than watching a man's urine bag maintain its color. When he arrived the pit was filled with doctors and nurses running around as if they were preparing for a major trauma. Quickly throwing on a trauma gown, he found his friends waiting for orders to be given.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Jackson greeted them.

"Dude, you didn't hear? I sent you a text two minutes ago," Charles replied excitedly. "We're about to get a shitload of patients from Seattle Grace. Apparently, they've got a bomb scare, so they're sending over patients to keep them safe and alive. Awesome, huh?"

"A bomb? Do you think April's still there?" he asked worriedly.

Charles firmly patted his roommate's back before he sarcastically answered, "Yeah, I'm sure she decided to stick around to watch the bomb explode." Jackson punched his shoulder in response, making him laugh. "C'mon, man. They evacuated most of the hospital. Besides, she might have already been gone by the time the bomb arrived."

"I should call her."

"She's fine, Avery. Stop worrying," Reed assured him. "I got a text from her an hour ago. She's at home relaxing – that lucky bitch. I wish I can go to an interview and not have to report to work afterwards."

It was a relief to know April wasn't anywhere near Seattle Grace, but Jackson had no idea whether or not her mind had been made up about leaving Mercy West. He wanted to call her at that very moment. However, an announcement of the first ambulance arriving alerted everybody in the ER. He and the other doctors were going to have their hands full for the rest of the day.

* * *

A whole day with nothing to do, April found herself wanting to be in an OR. She spent the majority of her afternoon sleeping in her bedroom, which was a bad idea because it meant she would be awake all night and she had to report to work early the next morning. Reed sent her text messages about the sudden overload of patients at the hospital. She couldn't help but feel jealous of her peers. They were busy gaining work experience, while she slept all day. She considered coming in to work regardless of her day off, but she decided to save her energy. A day without seeing Swanson was almost like a perfect day for her.

She sat on her couch knitting a sweater. It was total crap and she only had one sleeve finished, but it kept her occupied. The news was on the TV, focusing on the bomb that invaded Seattle Grace Hospital. It had exploded after it was finally removed from the patient, killing two bomb squad members. Nothing that drastic ever happened at Mercy West. All of the extreme cases went to their rival hospital first because of their Level I status. Seattle Grace offered opportunities the perky intern may never see at Mercy West, but she could live without the bomb scares.

There was a sudden string of continuous knocks on her door, startling her in the process. Suspecting it could be somebody loitering around, she carried one of her knitting needles with her as she approached the front door. Checking through the peephole, she relaxed and set the needle aside when it was only a very anxious Jackson outside.

"Did you drink too much caffeine or something?" April jokingly said after she opened the door. He pushed his way inside before she could invite him in. "Uhh, nice to see you too, Jackson."

Her friend started pacing back and forth nervously. "So, I had this whole speech laid out, but once I got here it all vanished. I can't remember what I wanted to say," he replied, almost panicking as he spoke. Jackson rubbed the back of his head, trying to calm himself down. "Hold on a second."

April stared at him amused. He appeared flustered about something, but she couldn't figure it out. "Jackson," she softly said, grabbing his wrist to stop him. "What's the matter?"

He took one deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I… I-I love you," he stammered. She was barely responsive to his confession, a mixture of disbelief and shock on her face. "Listen, I know it's out of the blue and you probably don't think I'm being sincere, but I mean it. I am in love with you."

"Jackson-"

"No, no. Let me finish." He wiped the sweat away from his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. It was either a sauna in her apartment or he was incredibly nervous. "I've never felt so strongly for any woman I've been with in the past. You get me, April. More than anybody ever has. You don't treat me like everyone else does because of my family's name and you always call me out on my crap. Most women pretend I'm perfect and I know I'm not. You know I'm not. When I'm not with you I feel empty. That sounds so cheesy and cliché, but it's true. I am freaking crazy about you. Your laugh, your smile, the way you bite your bottom lip when you're nervous. Everything you probably hate is what I love the most about you. I came to Seattle because I wanted to blend in without my name being the center of attention. It didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but something good came out of it. And I mean, _really_ good."

April bashfully bit down on her lower lip and smiled, fighting back the tears in her eyes. "Taco Time?" She giggled as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. Placing her hands against his cheeks, she stood on her tip toes and kissed his lips. "I love you too, Jackson."

Grinning widely back at her, he picked her up by her waist. "Seriously?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. "Seriously."

Jackson didn't waste time kissing April again. He kissed her passionately, holding her as tightly as possible. If he had any hair on his head, she would be grabbing at it frantically. So she settled with digging her fingers into the back of his head, which turned him on just as much. He was about to set her down on the floor, but she refused to let go of him.

"Bedroom," she mumbled against his lips.

"Really?" He slightly pulled away from her, surprised she was willing to finally take that next step with him. "You're not just doing this because I told you I loved you, right? I mean, I don't want you to feel any pressure-"

"Jackson, it's okay," she assured him, pressing her lips against his. "We're alone and I'm _very_ horny. I've been wanting to do this for a long time now, so are you taking me to my bedroom or not?"

As if he was going to turn down sex with the woman he loved. Jackson eagerly carried April towards her bedroom, though the making out part distracted him from where he was going. He accidently bumped her back against a lamp, grimacing after it crashed and broke on the floor.

"It's fine. That was a cheap lamp," she mentioned in between kisses.

Jackson carefully navigated his way to the bedroom, but not without another mishap. This time, April's back collided with the wall, which he felt badly about. She was going to have an ugly bruise in the morning. Finally, they entered her bedroom and he kicked the door closed behind him. He set her down on the bed, then he slipped out of his shoes and removed his jacket.

April reached up to unbutton his shirt. Midway through, he practically ripped it open and laughed when the rest of the buttons flew in random directions. She softly gasped, but he waved his hand. "It's alright. I didn't like this shirt that much anyway," he insisted while he peeled away his next piece of clothing.

She took a moment to soak in the half-naked man hovering above her. The redhead couldn't help but wonder how she became so lucky to have a guy like him. Running her fingertips against his chest, she softly smiled at him before pulling him on top of her to kiss him.

His lips traveled down to her neck, moving downward to her collarbone and all the way to her stomach. He pushed up her tank top and placed a gentle kiss on the area above her navel. Slowly kissing his way back up to her, he helped her remove the garment from her body.

One by one, their clothes landed on the floor. Having sex with April wasn't going to be anything like sleeping with his past girlfriends. Jackson wanted her to feel loved and not just feel like she was having sex with him. Steady and slow. He was going to make sure she remembered every second of it.

The heavy breathing, the deep moans coming out of her mouth – he knew he was doing a successful job. And she seemed to know exactly what to do to drive him insane. His Christmas present might have come in handy after all.

He laid on his back, pulling her closely against his chest afterwards. Staring at the ceiling, he couldn't stop smiling as he heavily panted. She giggled at how fast his chest moved up and down against her cheek.

"That was... really, really, _really_ great," Jackson breathlessly said. He rubbed his hand up and down April's side. "You were… I don't even know how to describe it, but… you can't tell me _The Joy of Sex_ didn't help out a little."

April lightly slapped his arm. "Oh, shush," she playfully scolded him. "All of it was how I imagined it would be."

Jackson used his other hand to interlock his fingers with hers. "So, umm… are you still considering Seattle Grace?"

"That's the first thing you want to talk about after what we just did?" she teasingly replied and lifted her head to look at him. "But if you must know, I'm going to stay at Mercy West. Although, I was kind of a hot commodity with a couple of guys over there."

"Would I want to kick their asses if I saw them?" he questioned curiously.

"Maybe one of them," she answered, thinking about Alex. "Since I'm not leaving you don't need to worry about that guy. I probably won't see him again anyway."

Jackson smugly grinned at his girlfriend. "Good. He wouldn't want to mess with this," he gloated as he pointed at his wonderfully crafted body.

"Oh, please," April scoffed and smirked at him. She started planting kisses on his chest. "I don't like men with inflated egos."

From outside, they could hear Reed calling out April's name after arriving home from the hospital. They listened to her gasp and gripe about the broken lamp on the floor. Pretty soon, the footsteps grew louder and her roommate opened the door.

"Holy crap, did somebody rob our apart-" Reed paused as April threw her blanket over her head. Jackson simply chuckled and stretched his arms over his head. "Oh. My. G-"

"Later, Reed! We'll talk later!" her embarrassed roommate yelled out from underneath the covers.

Reed grinned as she stepped out of April's bedroom. "Don't stay up too late, you dirty rabbits," she quipped and pulled the door closed. She quickly opened the door, but covering her eyes with her hand. "And you owe me a new lamp, Kepner!"

April tugged her blanket away from her head and held it against her chest. "Well, that's never happened to me before." She lay back down on the bed, rolling onto her side. "So… umm… are you staying here or… d-do you want to leave?"

"Do you want me stay?" Jackson answered her question with a question, raising his eyebrow at her. She grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm across her body as she closed his eyes. He kissed her forehead and adjusted his position on the bed. "I'll take that as a yes."

He closed his eyes, smiling as he fell asleep beside her. His paranoia and worries disappeared when she told him she loved him too. And he hadn't expected sex to come with it that night. He considered himself to be the luckiest man on Earth.


	17. Dirty Rabbits

**I know it's been a while, but I had a bad case of writer's block. Anyway, thank you to anybody who's been patiently waiting :) This fic is almost over (3 chapters left!), but I'm already in the process of writing another Japril fic for you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ouch! You landed on Boardwalk, which means you owe me $1,400, Jackman," April greedily said with a smile on her face. She and Jackson were engaging in a friendly game of _Monopoly_ at her apartment, one of the few activities that didn't involve sex. Since the major turning point in their relationship, they hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other. The board game was their attempt to behave for once.

Jackson frowned at the four fake one hundred dollar bills in front of him. He was a competitive guy and wanted to win at everything, including a board game like _Monopoly_. And he couldn't help but feel embarrassed that his girlfriend was kicking his ass badly. He believed she had been getting lucky by landing on the properties he wanted and buying them first. She was also draining all of his money and he was on the brink of bankruptcy.

"I'm $1,000 short, babe," he replied disappointedly. "Uhh, how about you give me a free pass this time? I'm about to pass Go."

"You'll still be $800 short, so you could humbly accept defeat by going bankrupt or…" April reached across the coffee table and grabbed his t-shirt. "You can pay me with this instead."

He chuckled as he gazed down at his navy blue t-shirt. "This thing only costs about twenty bucks," he said, oblivious to her actual intentions. Looking back at her, she was seductively biting down on her lower lip and he eventually got the hint. "Just the shirt?"

She caught him off-guard when she forcefully yanked his t-shirt and pulled him over the coffee table. Jackson used his forearm to shove the _Monopoly_ pieces and money off of the coffee table as his lips crashed into April's. They briefly parted, so she could remove his t-shirt. He lay her on top of the game board before he swiftly pulled her shirt over her head.

"Oww! Oww!" April grimaced as she felt something poking her lower back. She reached behind her and her fingertips touched a small board game piece. Holding up a red plastic hotel, she playfully threw it at Jackson's chest. "Careful now. I don't want to go to the ER because I stabbed myself with a pointy piece of plastic."

Jackson snickered and flicked the tiny hotel off of April's stomach. "We haven't had any accidents during sex and we won't have any now," he assured her, lowering himself on top of her. "I am always careful with how I treat you."

Shivers ran down her spine as he kissed the sweet spot on her neck. "Maybe… maybe we should go to my room," she suggested, though she was too distracted by the touch of his lips to push him away.

"Nah. I think we're good where we are," he insisted as his hand worked on unbuttoning her jeans.

Reed entered their apartment with bags of groceries in her hands. After closing the front door with her foot, she yelped and dropped all of the groceries when she found Jackson and April half-naked on her coffee table.

"Oh my God, you two!" she yelled, covering her eyes with her jacket. Jackson instantly stood up, while April clumsily rolled off of the coffee table, picking up her shirt from the floor and shielding her body. "The living room? Seriously? Your bedroom is only ten feet away from here, April!"

"Home already?" the redhead nervously replied.

Reed rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "I can't believe you were about to have sex on my coffee table. I really hope this was the first time. Otherwise, you better have sterilized it after the other times," she scolded her roommate. Walking towards them, she gasped as she noticed the mess on the floor. Fake colored money and game board pieces were scattered all over the place. "Eww! You were gonna have sex on my _Monopoly_ game?!"

"Not on purpose," Jackson insisted as he grinned at Reed. "I meant to knock that off the table too, but only the tiny pieces flew off. If you saw the way April was staring at me-"

"No! I don't want to hear it," she intervened. "You two have been screwing like dirty rabbits for the past month. I'm not sure what you did to my roommate, but stop it Jackson! I tolerated it for a while. Now… you're _gross_. You've turned April into Rachel 2.0 except I can still like her."

He extended his arm out to his girlfriend and rested it against her shoulder. "I don't see anything wrong with expressing our love for each other."

"Do you honestly expect me to fall for _that_?" Reed picked up the pretty boy's t-shirt and threw it at his face. She pushed him towards the front door, while he attempted to wear his t-shirt again. "Time for you to go home and rediscover your own apartment."

"What are you doing?" Before he knew it, he was outside after his coworker forced him out of the apartment with one last push. "Hey!"

"Buh-bye!" Reed playfully said, then she closed the front door and locked it. She turned around to face April, who stared at her appalled. "What? Help me with these groceries."

April let out an annoyed sigh as she knelt down on the floor beside her roommate. "You didn't have to kick him out like that. He would've left if you asked him nicely," she irritably said. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened because I walked in on you two," she countered with a smirk on her face. "Out in the open in the living room? I never expected that from you. Just tell me you haven't had sex on the dining table and I'll forgive you."

"No, we haven't. We've only- well, once in the shower-"

Reed held up her hand and laughed. "I don't need to know every single time you two had sex and where it happened. We can talk about whatever you want – except that." She shook her head and smiled. "Listen, I'm happy for you and Jackson, but… he's _always_ here. Like, he became our unofficial third roommate. This apartment was made for two people, April."

"I know that. We love spending time together, okay?" April shrugged her shoulders. "We're nowhere near the moving in phase, so he makes up for it by being here a lot and sometimes spending the night."

"For once, can't you go to his place instead? Maybe Charles and Trevor don't mind the sex sounds you two make, but I do," she argued. The two interns walked into the kitchen after gathering the spilt groceries. "And as much as you keep promising to stay quiet, whatever Jackson's doing to you isn't helping. The walls aren't very thick, you know."

April's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. She had hoped Reed wouldn't be able to overhear the moans coming from her bedroom, but she blamed Jackson for doing certain _acts_ to her that she hadn't experienced before. He was good at what he did in bed. Very good. And while she had been disgusted with him when he dated Rachel, there was an obvious difference between the two relationships. He was with the blonde mainly for sex. With April, it was more than that. He loved her and the feeling was mutual. She was positive he wouldn't turn out like boyfriend number one. He truly cared for her and made it clear – through a lot of sweet gestures and hot sex.

"I'm sorry, alright?" she guiltily replied. "But Jackson is uhh-mazing."

Reed cringed as she put away cans inside of a cupboard. "Umm, yeah. Let's not talk about you, Jackson and sex mashed together in the same topic for the rest of the day," she suggested. "I'd like to keep my sanity until a_fter_ we take our intern exam in June."

"Speaking of which, when are you going to start studying for that?"

"When I have a life, which is never," she quipped. "And I will only study with you if you and Jackson don't engage in sex breaks every ten minutes. I'd rather study with Charles if it comes to that."

"Jackson and I know when we're supposed to be serious. For your information, we don't have sex at the hospital," the redhead informed her roommate. "It's unprofessional and we don't know how often they change the sheets. They could be unsanitary with some kind of STD waiting to be contracted-"

"Thank God you're too paranoid to have sex at work," Reed jokingly said. "I would feel so sorry for the patients who might overhear you."

April threw a large bag of potato chips at Reed, who dodged it and laughed. "Give me a break. Prior to Jackson, I only had sex once and I was eighteen. I'm letting loose with a guy I love. You've been telling me to loosen up more remember?"

Reed snickered. "When I said that I wasn't implying you become a sex addict."

"I am _not_ a sex addict!" she defensively stated. "Don't tell me you wouldn't be like this with _your_ boyfriend."

"Please, don't rub it in. I would totally be banging my boyfriend if I had one," she muttered. "And before you say it, Charles and I are still just friends. No double dating ideas either."

"I think it'd be fun, though," April insisted, sheepishly grinning at Reed as she scowled back at her. "Why not? It could be like friends having an outing together. In fact, it doesn't have to be with Charles. You could take Trevor instead. He'll be more innocent than Charles."

"Right. The guy who always talks about sex is a safer date than my doofus friend," Reed sarcastically noted. "No double dates, April. That's final."

* * *

"Hmm… what about that one?" April pointed out a male nurse passing by to Trevor while they hung out at the nurses' station. Her friend was assisting her in finding a potential date for Reed because she truly believed a double date with her roommate was the answer to her sexual frustrations. "He seems like Reed's type."

Trevor thought to himself before he shook his head. "I disagree. Also, I'm very sure Nurse Perry has a girlfriend," he said, drawing a curious look from April. "What? I secretly listen to other people's gossip… and to find out if there's a potential suitor for me."

"Have you found any yet?" She watched him shake his head in disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should be helping you. I feel like an awful friend because we haven't been spending time together lately."

"No, it's fine. You're busy finally getting laid on a daily basis, so I'm not upset." He chuckled after she slapped his bicep and ducked her head in embarrassment. "But seriously, you seem more confident. The other female interns are ridiculously jealous of you. I mean, they haven't got a clue what you and Jackson are doing every day, but you're with him. That's enough for them to envy you."

April softly gasped. "Is that why Dr. Crowe was giving me the stink eye this morning?" she whispered. "I always thought she liked me, but she just glared at me when I greeted her."

"No, she's upset because you're not a lesbian like she was hoping you'd be," he answered and laughed at his coworker's shocked expression. Trevor winked at her with a smirk on his face. "Yes, even women dig ya."

"Oh," she barely peeped, biting on her lower lip. Resting her elbow on the counter, she covered half of her face with her hand to hide her blushed cheek. "And to think, when we started our first shifts I thought nobody would notice I'm alive. Jackson was way out of my league. I still kind of think he is."

"That's the insecure side of you talking. Jackson loves you. Anybody can see that now. You feel the same way, right?"

April nodded. Before the pretty eyed man came into her life, she thought she had an idea of what it was like to be in love with someone. However, being with Jackson provided her a better perspective on the big L word. "He makes me feel things that I… I don't know how to describe it," she shyly explained. "Even the smallest gestures let me know he loves me. I could spend a whole day with him and never want him to leave my side."

"Well, yeah. He's giving you the best sex ever," Trevor teased, eliciting an eye roll from April. "C'mon, you know I'm right about that. Charles, Reed and I are completely aware of how much action you're getting. Reed can't stop bitching to us about it when you two aren't around."

"She's probably ready to kick me out," she groaned. "She walked in on us about to have sex on the coffee table last night. I'm not the type of person to just have sex out in the open like that, but… freaking _Monopoly_."

"Huh, _Monopoly._ Didn't know playing that could be such a turn on – unless, it was strip _Monopoly_," he quipped.

"I did convince him to give me his shirt because he was about to go bankrupt," April innocently mentioned. She sheepishly grinned at Trevor, who shook his head. "What? He's my boyfriend. I'm allowed to take advantage of him… to a certain degree."

Trevor laughed as he playfully nudged April with his elbow. "Is that why you're almost always on top?"

"He told you that?!" she panicked, immediately covering her mouth after realizing how loud she was. Scanning their surroundings, she cowered as low as she could against the counter. "What else has he been telling you or even Charles?"

"Relax. I was messing with you, but I guess it _is_ true about you almost always being on top then." He watched her gently slam her forehead against the counter and stared at her amused. "Why don't you just move in together? You'll have all the privacy you need."

April lifted her head, gazing up at Trevor. "We are so not close to that level. Jackson's not into settling down yet and I'm not either. Besides, my parents would kill me if they found out I was living with a guy. They think I'm saving myself for marriage," she shamefully replied. "I thought maybe at one time I would, but… plans change. I think they would like Jackson, though."

"Speaking of the man himself," he said, pointing over her shoulder. Trevor greeted his roommate with a nod as Jackson approached him. "Your sex machine is here."

"Trev!" she yelped before quickly turning around and brightly smiling at her boyfriend. "Hi! We weren't talking about you."

Jackson slowly nodded his head, appearing skeptical. "Sure. I believe you." He kissed her cheek and leaned close to her ear. "I've got nothing to do at the moment. You want to sneak away for a bit?"

Her eyes widened, then she nervously laughed. "Here?" she whispered. "At work?"

He smirked at her and placed his hand against her lower back. "Just this once, please?"

"Are you really that impatient?"

"Yes, aren't you? I mean, after Reed interrupted last night? And she freaking kicked me out." Jackson decided to use his charming smile on his girlfriend. He playfully licked his lips and pressed his forehead against her temple. "By the way, you are looking very sexy today."

"Are you saying I don't look sexy on other days?" April retorted. He opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't quite find the words to defend himself. She chuckled and took his hand as she walked down the hallway. "Scared you for a second, huh?"

Jackson let out a sigh of relief, then he turned his head to look at Trevor. "I'm just going to show her… something. Uhh, it won't take long."

"You're not slick at all, Avery! She's seen _it_ plenty of times before," his roommate scoffed.

After finding an empty on-call room, Jackson followed April inside and closed the door behind him. He simultaneously locked the door with one hand and pinned her against the wall with the other. She pushed off his lab coat as he embraced her with a deep, passionate kiss.

"This is… the only… time… we… do this here," she said in between kisses.

"You gotta love the thrill, though," he mumbled against her lips while he removed her lab coat. Slipping his hands underneath her scrub top, Jackson grinned as he placed kisses against her neck. "And it's too big for Reed to find us and throw a fit."

She raised her arms, while he pushed her scrub top over her head. "We need to find her a date," she murmured before kissing him again. "She refuses to double date, but I think it would be fun if we set her up with the right guy."

Jackson slightly cringed. "I don't want to have a conversation about _Reed_ when we're trying to have sex," he complained. "I think she scares off men – except for Charles, of course."

April placed her finger on Jackson's lips and smiled. "All you have to do is promise me you'll find her a decent man and I'll shut up about her."

He playfully rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay, okay. Saturday night, I will think of something to do and you just have to convince her to tag along," he agreed and untied her scrub pants. "Can we have sex now?"

She giggled as he removed his scrub top. "Yes, you horndog. We can have sex now."

Jackson smugly grinned and picked up April from the floor. "Good. Have you ever been on the Tilt-A-Whirl?"

"The _what_? Was that on page 119 in _The Joy of Sex_?" The perky intern squealed when he carried her towards the bed and dropped her onto her back. "Was that it?"

"Nope." He kicked off his shoes and climbed on top of her, kissing her lips and making his way down her neck towards her chest. "You'll find out soon."

* * *

"I can't believe you're making me do this," Reed bitterly said as she fixed her hair into a ponytail in the bathroom. "Are you positive Jackson's getting me a _decent_ guy? I don't entirely trust him. I can imagine him choosing some annoying person who talks a lot, so you two can run off and have sex in the car or something."

April dismissively waved her hand. "This date isn't so we can dump you and have sex. If that was the case, why make it a double date in the first place? And it's bowling. There's nothing sexy about bowling and Jackson's apparently a huge fan of it."

"_Monopoly_ isn't sexy either," she scoffed. Reed pressed her palms against the counter and groaned. "I feel sick. I hate blind dates. I don't even have anything new to wear. Plus, my hair looks like shit. I need a haircut."

Opening a drawer, April reached for a pair of scissors. She quickly grabbed the end of Reed's ponytail and cut off half of it causing her roommate to scream loudly. In one hand, she innocently held a chunk of the brunette's hair and in the other, she held the scissors behind her back for safety precautions. She suspected Reed would try to stab her with them.

"April, what the fuck did you do?!" Reed angrily shouted. Her mouth slowly dropped open as she touched the empty space where half of her ponytail used to be. "My hair…"

"You said you needed a haircut, so I offered to help you out," the redhead nonchalantly replied. She sheepishly grinned when she received a scowl from her roommate. "Our date's not for another five hours, so it's fixable."

"I wasn't asking _you_ for haircut assistance!"

Reed reached around April for the scissors, but the perky intern dodged her and ran out of the bathroom. Waving locks of her hair in her hand, she ran into the living room and stood behind the dining table. Reed was across from her determined to kick her ass.

"I'm the one with the scissors, so if you plan on doing anything, I'll strike first," April warned. "You've been whining and complaining about everything I do. I did you favor! And uhh… this is for the time you stole my red notebook!"

"What?! That's nothing compared to what you just did!"

"You spilled my deepest secrets!" she argued.

"I don't even remember most of them!" Reed countered. She pointed at her butchered hair. "I'm going to have to get this cut short. I've never had short hair in my entire life."

April shrugged. "So? Maybe it'll work for you. You can't knock it until you try it, Reed." She held the scissors in front of her. "I'll put these down if you promise not to pounce on me. I'll even pay for your haircut, okay?"

Reed folded her arms, taking a minute to think about the proposed truce. She held out her hand across the dining table. "Fine, it's a deal."

Setting the scissors down, April reached out for her roommate's hand and shook it. "Deal," she said, then she grimaced in pain as the grip on her hand tightened. "Umm, you're close to breaking my hand."

The agitated intern grinned. "Good," she replied through gritted teeth.

* * *

A knock on the door signaled Jackson's arrival at April and Reed's apartment. He ran his hand along his shaved head as if he were trying to smooth out the hair that barely existed as he waited for an answer. The front door opened and his girlfriend greeted him with a kiss. It was a casual date, but both of them tried to make an effort in appearing extra nice for each other. He wore his favorite black and red Air Jordan's with a red polo shirt and dark blue jeans. She had on a short sleeved purple blouse to go with her black jeans and black Converse Chuck's. Being a guy who took note of her physical assets, his eyes gazed down at her cleavage. In his head, he thought to himself – bowling balls or boobies?

Not a tough question.

"Why'd you have to wear _that_?" Jackson jokingly complained, placing his hands on April's waist. "How am I supposed to concentrate on winning when all I'm going to be thinking about is taking that shirt off of you later?"

She playfully slapped his chest and laughed. "Can't you go two hours without thinking about sex?"

He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. As much as he wanted to believe he could behave for a couple of hours without any sexual thoughts about her, he knew he was kidding himself. "I'm a guy. You're my girlfriend. I'm sorry, but that's not possible for me," he truthfully answered. "I'm being honest."

April softly smiled as her arms wrapped over his shoulders. "I'm wearing my black underwear tonight, so if you're a good boy, you will get a chance to see them," she teased. She stood up on her tip toes and whispered into his ear, "Black and lacy."

"Lacy? I don't recall seeing those. Are they new?" Jackson asked inquisitively. She nodded with a smirk and he sighed. "Damn, where the hell is Reed? We need to get this date started ASAP."

"She should be ready. By the way, she got a new haircut. I think it's adorable on her, but she hasn't warmed up to it yet, so be nice," she advised. Peeking her head through the doorway, she expected her roommate to purposely stall. "Reed, let's go! Jackson's waiting."

April thought perhaps she would have to forcefully drag Reed out of their apartment, but a minute later, she emerged from hiding. She sported a pixie cut, which she personally loathed, especially when her roommate squealed with glee over it. She wished she had rented a wig for her blind date.

"Let's get this night over with, alright?" Reed irritably said as she closed the front door behind her. She caught Jackson staring at her with a blank expression on his face. "What?"

He offered a thumbs up and a half-smile. "Nice do, Reed. It suits you."

His coworker rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "Cut the bullshit, Avery."

Jackson winced after April elbowed his side. "What was that for? I was being sincere," he insisted, rubbing his side. Interlocking his fingers with hers, they followed Reed to the car. They stopped two feet away from their disgruntled friend when she glanced back at them unpleasantly.

She pointed at her blind date, Charles, who was standing beside the open backseat door. "_He's_ the man you picked out for me?" she asked in annoyance. "Are you seriously only friends with two men in this entire city?"

Charles folded his arms. "Dude, you said she knew I was her date."

April pinched the bridge of her nose. While she understood why Jackson chose to set up Charles and Reed, she had a feeling the double date was going to be a bust. Her roommate would likely be a sourpuss for the rest of the night and she felt sorry for his roommate because any hope of getting any was slim to none.

"Can we please have a fun time tonight? Jackson and I have yet to successfully enjoy a real date and we're hoping we won't continue our streak of bad luck," the redhead pleaded. "It's just bowling. Low key fun. Anyway, let's go."

"I'll drive," Jackson offered, opening the passenger door for April.

He watched Reed practically shove Charles into the backseat before she joined him inside. Maybe her mood wouldn't have been as terrible if it weren't for the haircut she hated, but he had disturbing thoughts of her bashing him over the head with a bowling ball for setting her up with her longtime friend.

* * *

"That's my girl!" Jackson proudly cheered after April bowled a strike during her turn. In the beginning, she had been rusty and admitted to being fairly bad at bowling. However, after a few quick lessons from himself, she was knocking pins down like a champ.

She had a skip in her stride as she excitedly approached her boyfriend. He picked her up like she had just won a championship and kissed her, to the dismay of both Charles and Reed. Although they hadn't been obnoxious with their PDA, the two unattached doctors preferred rectal exams over watching the couple share another gushy moment.

Charles cleared his throat and looked at Reed. "Your turn. And this time, actually try to hit some pins instead of rolling the ball into the gutter," he unenthusiastically said. "I've seen you bowl before and I'm positive you can score better than _ten_."

"Yes, Reed. Can you at least make an effort this time?" Jackson chimed in. "Do you want me to ask somebody to put in the bumpers, so you can't keep throwing gutter balls?"

"Fine, whatever." Reed stood up and grabbed her bowling ball from the rack. She walked towards their lane, then she lazily rolled the ball, turning around before it reached the pins. "What did I get this time?"

"Uhh…" Charles raised his arms in triumph after her ball dodged the gutter. "Two pins! That's progress."

She softly laughed, marking it the first time she had smiled at all in a while. "I'm such a pro," she sarcastically replied, slowly clapping her hands.

He got up from his seat and stood beside her, while she waited for her ball to return. "Glad you're finally lightening up a bit," he noted. Reed rolled her eyes in response and he chuckled. "How about we use this time to make fun of those two behind us? They're like a teenage couple from a Nickelodeon show."

Reed looked over her shoulder to see Jackson and April seated closely together. Her roommate's legs were resting across his lap with his arm comfortably wrapped around her waist. She couldn't help but laugh when April dangled a French fry above Jackson's head and he caught it with his teeth.

"They're close to making me vomit," she lightheartedly said.

"You have to be happy for them, though. It was a long time coming," he insisted. "I'll take this Jackson over the mopey one when they were broken up."

"Of course you would because you're not the one who's been enduring all of the sex noise from April's room," she retorted. Glancing back at April, she shuddered. "I never expected the sounds I've heard to come out from her mouth. Jackson corrupted her."

Charles scoffed. "You were exactly like April and Jackson at U-Dub. Hello? Chad Grossman. His last name alone described your relationship – gross, man," he quipped. "He was pathetic. You deserved better than him."

Reed stroked her chin. "Hmm… let me guess. You?" He shyly ducked his head, stuffing his hands inside of his pockets. "Cut me some slack, Charles. You hardly gave away any hints that you wanted to date me."

"I didn't know how to. You made me nervous and I would forget whatever I wanted to say to you," he explained, then he pointed at her pixie cut. "By the way, I dig the hair. It's different from what I'm used to seeing, but it's good on you."

"Are you joking? Because if you are-"

"I swear, I'm not." Charles pulled out a packet of earplugs from his back pocket and handed them to Reed. "Oh, and I bought these for you. You know, when those two rabbits over there are too loud for you. I guarantee you they work just fine."

"Thank you," she gratefully replied. Reed finally picked up her bowling ball, then she nodded her head towards April and Jackson. "Okay, after this one, you need to step it up. I really want you to kick Jackson's ass and make him pout."

Charles stretched his arms in front of his chest while he cracked his knuckles. "No problem. Avery thinks he has this in the bag, but he doesn't realize the Comeback Kid is just warming up," he confidently assured his date.

* * *

Checking on his roommate through the rearview mirror, Charles proudly grinned at Jackson's not so victorious frown. He edged him in the final frame by one point and Reed didn't hesitate to rub it in his face. And while April promised him a lovely ending to their date, his competitive side couldn't get over the fact that he lost to freaking Charles Percy in bowling. As much as he refused to admit it, he was a sore loser.

"How about some drinks at Schmo's?" the bowling winner suggested. "Hell, I'll even pay because I'm a generous winner."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. "Your arrogance is not amusing," he muttered, folding his arms. "You had to have rigged the lane. The split you knocked over to win is impossible."

"Or I'm just awesome," he replied, sharing a laugh with Reed. "So, what do ya say? Schmo's?"

"Actually, you can drop us off at our apartment," April answered, smiling at Jackson. "Gotta turn this sore loser's frown upside down and I know he won't reject that offer from me."

Reed shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yes, please. Drop them off, so I can drink in peace without those two sucking face beside me at the bar."

"You need to get laid," Jackson sneered.

"Who knows? Maybe I will," she suggestively implied.

Charles' eyes grew wide, slightly swerving out of his lane. He tried to remain composed as he drove straight again. "I… I saw a squirrel," he unconvincingly stated.

When they arrived at April and Reed's apartment complex the pretty boy and the perky intern climbed out of the car. Jackson had barely closed the door before Charles sped off, making the tires screech in the process and startling the duo.

"Someone's in a hurry," April chuckled.

Jackson smiled to himself, wrapping his arm around April's shoulder as they walked to her apartment. "See? Setting Charles up with Reed was bound to pay off eventually. I completely missed the part when they suddenly became enthusiastic about bowling, but at least our date didn't suck for once."

"You're right. It didn't," she cheerfully replied. "It looks like we'll have the apartment to ourselves for a few hours or so."

"Or maybe all night," he eagerly said, suddenly lifting his girlfriend and holding her against his shoulder. Jackson laughed while he ran the rest of the way. April gently slapped his back as she demanded him to put her down. "I'm saving us some time, sweetheart. And I've been good."

April giggled as Jackson carried her to the front door. She frantically searched for her keys in her purse and handed them to him. "Here you go, impatient one," she teased. "And umm, can we do that Tilt-A-Whirl thing? I liked that."

He opened the door and brought her into the apartment, practically grinning from ear to ear. "I knew you would."


	18. Meeting the Parents

**Thanks for the reviews! When I started writing this I hadn't planned on posting it on the same day as April's birthday in GA world lol. In honor of April's awesomeness, here you go! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

There were two things that made Jackson apprehensive: being filmed and meeting the girlfriend's parents for the first time. Only about a handful of girlfriends lasted long enough to reach the "Meet the Parents" phase. Most of them were either scared away by Catherine because she disapproved of them or he lost interest in the woman. Meeting the mother wasn't as nerve wracking as meeting the father. Somehow, he always ended up dating the girls who were raised by overprotective fathers – or daughters of surgeons who simply wanted to use him to meet the great Harper Avery. The latter was the worst. He hated being used by anybody, especially for surgical purposes.

He worked his charm on the mothers with his charismatic demeanor and attractive smile. Unfortunately, he had difficulty bonding with the fathers because he wasn't sure how to. His own father fled Boston before he graduated from high school. Even when he was around he had been too occupied at Mass Gen to spend much time with his son. Their bonding consisted of Jackson sitting alone in Harper Jr.'s office, while the former cardiothoracic surgeon operated. Occasionally, they attended Boston Celtics games together, but his father brought paperwork with him to the arena and focused on that.

In a way, he hated fathers because he wasn't given the luxury of having one who appreciated him. Despite how crazy Mama Avery drove him, he was grateful to have one parent who cared about his well being. Although, he wished Harper Jr. had been the type of father who enjoyed watching him play sports whether it was basketball, football or soccer. While his friends' fathers cheered their sons on in the stands, his was missing because he preferred open heart surgery over sporting events.

The few months since Jackson and April rekindled their relationship had been wonderful. No more hesitance from his girlfriend about sex. Actually, she had been initiating it more often than he did. Turned out she loved having sex, which made him laugh when she first openly admitted it. The shy, insecure woman he met on their first day of work hardly existed. He could take some credit for that, but she also helped him mature as well.

The fact that they were so different from each other was the main reason why he believed they complemented each other perfectly. He felt comfortable telling her anything that was on his mind and vice versa. Trevor and Charles constantly teased him about how quickly he missed her whenever she left the room. He couldn't help himself. The love bug struck him hard. April meant everything to him.

Her parents were flying in from Ohio for her 25th birthday. She hadn't seen them since last June before she moved to Seattle, so she was ecstatic to spend time with them. Because she was very much in love with Jackson, she was eager to introduce him to Joe and Karen. She had raved about him on the phone in preparation for their arrival and they were looking forward to meeting him too.

Jackson, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. He wanted to make the perfect first impression with Mr. and Mrs. Kepner. April had given him a heads up about both of them, so he wouldn't feel clueless when starting a conversation with her parents. She offered the basics. Joe was a farmer who grew corn on their family farm in Moline. According to her description, he was a giant – about 6'5" – played tight end in high school. His friends back then dubbed him "Big Joe". He had always been a farm boy growing up, so he eventually followed his father's footsteps and built a farm of his own. Karen was a teacher, educating second graders in nearby Toledo. She was soft spoken just like her daughter. Of all four Kepner girls, April was the shortest – about 5'4" like her mother. She hadn't been blessed with the taller height her father passed on to Libby, Kimmie and Alice.

"Holy crap, your father's a big guy," he stated in astonishment when she described her parents after a satisfying round of sex in her bedroom. Add another worry to his list – a taller father who could possibly kick his ass if he lands on his bad side. "Does he carry with him a weapon of some sort?"

April chuckled as she adjusted her position on the bed. "No, he doesn't. He has rifles, but he doesn't bring them along with him wherever he goes," she assured him, propping herself up with her elbow against the pillow. "Are you already scared of him?"

"Maybe- no. Wait, should I be?" He lay flat on his back and gazed up at her curiously. "H-how was he when you were in high school? Like… did he scare off the guys?"

"What guys?" she half-heartedly answered, softly smiling at him. "If there were any guys, they were after Libby or Kimmie. But if you must know, my dad was overprotective during my high school years. A lot of boys worked for him on the farm over the summer, but he made sure they were there to do chores and not flirt with my sisters."

"Okay, so who was the anointed Daddy's Girl of the family?" Jackson watched her bite on her lower lip as her eyes looked away. No surprise there. He pictured April to be the favorite of the bunch. "You and Big Joe must be very close then."

She proudly nodded. "I'm close to both of my parents, but my dad and I just had this instant connection ever since I was born. When I was little he would let me sit on his lap and take the steering wheel on his tractor. It was so much fun," she recalled cheerfully. "I'd help him plant the sweet corn seeds and we'd talk about whatever I wanted. He would listen until I was finished. He's very good with advice. I confided in him a lot, especially during my awful high school years."

"Sounds like a very loving father," he murmured, feeling slightly jealous over the close bond between April and Big Joe. "How did he feel when you became a doctor?"

"Oh my gosh, he was over the moon. He cried at my graduation and the man never cries," she chuckled. "My mom made sure to snap a picture of him with tears running down his face because it was probably a once in a lifetime moment. Well, I think he'll cry at my wedding too."

"Wedding… with another man?" Jackson reluctantly asked. Marriage was definitely not in his current future plans. However, he couldn't help but wonder how April felt about the topic.

April slowly shrugged, appearing slightly uneasy as well. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not ready to be anybody's wife yet. You're probably not ready to be anybody's husband either." She shyly grinned at her boyfriend. "I think you would look quite handsome in a tuxedo, though."

Jackson rolled onto his side, scooting closer to April and wrapping his arm around her waist. "And you would look stunning in a white wedding dress," he noted, leaning forward and planting soft kisses on her collarbone. "You're beautiful in anything."

She brushed her fingertips along the back of his head. "Where were you when I was in high school?"

"In Boston, making fun of girls like you," he regretfully said. "I was popular, but kind of a jerk to people who weren't like me. Your dad would've most likely hated me. He'll probably hate me now too."

"No, he won't. Why do you think that?"

"Because I'm not good at talking to fathers. Mine was barely one, so I don't know how to act around someone else's." He sat up on the bed, folding his arms. "I'll admit it. I have daddy issues and when I meet a girlfriend's father I sometimes say things that might rub people the wrong way. I don't want to make a bad first impression on yours."

April shifted her position on the bed, sliding onto Jackson's lap and straddling him. "You have nothing to worry about. Both of my parents, especially my father, will like you," she reassured him and kissed his lips. "When he sees how happy I am with you he'll love you just as much as I love you. I mean, platonically not jumping into bed with you like I do-"

"Yes, I got the point," Jackson chuckled. "You're cute when you feel obligated to explain everything that comes out of your mouth."

"I'm sorry. I've grown used to doing that. As a kid, I'd say things that came out wrong and Libby would make fun of me in front of the other kids because I didn't always think before I spoke," she explained sheepishly. "It's a habit I have trouble getting rid of."

"Well, it's a quirky part of you that I don't want you to change," he insisted, kissing her shoulder. "So, three days until judgment day with your parents. And oh yeah, your birthday too. In one day, I could be the worst boyfriend ever if your parents disapprove of me and my present for you sucks. Yup, I'm not feeling any pressure at all."

She gently squeezed his cheeks as her high-pitched laugh filled the bedroom. "Stop worrying! If you're nervous, then I'm nervous and everything becomes awkward. You're going to be fine, Jackson."

He nodded and smiled back at her. "Right. I'll be fine."

* * *

"I am not fine, Charles," Jackson stated apprehensively as he strolled down the hospital's hallway with his roommate. April's parents would be in town the following day. He thought the two days prior were enough time for him to relax and prepare himself for the big meeting, but he was wrong. "Her parents are going to be here tomorrow, physically in person here in Seattle. I don't do well with parents. I grew up with dysfunctional ones, so normal ones who care about their kids scare the crap out of me."

Charles smirked as he glanced at the pretty boy. "Dude, how bad can Kepner's parents be? If they're as bubbly as she is, then you've got nothing to worry about."

"Her father is _tall_. Taller than the both of us. We're having lunch in downtown for her birthday. One little screw up and I'm very positive he will kick my ass. Actually, all he has to do is sit on me and I'm a dead man." He nudged his friend with his elbow after he laughed. "I'm not kidding. April showed me a picture of Joe and he's a giant compared to me."

"All you have to do is talk about crap you two can relate to," Charles advised. "He's a big guy, right? Did he play any sports?"

"Football. That'll work for a while, but he'll eventually ask me about April and my feelings for her," Jackson replied. He stuffed his hands inside of his lab coat pockets and sighed. "Why do I get this horrible vibe that he'll ask me if I'm having sex with his daughter?"

"If he does, the answer is always no. No father wants to learn that his innocent, sweet daughter is playing naked games with her boyfriend." Charles playfully patted Jackson's back. "Don't talk about spending the night at April's apartment or how you shower with her frequently-"

"I'm not an idiot," he interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I'm aware of what I should and shouldn't talk about with her parents. Sex is definitely not going to be one of them. You know, I don't even want to talk about being an Avery either. I don't want to come off as a rich snob."

Charles snickered. "Well, they're going to ask you to talk about yourself, so you have to tell them something. And you can't lie either because April practically knows you inside and out. She'll kill you if she catches you lying in front of the old folks." His face lit up as Reed approached them from the opposite direction. "And I don't need to worry about meeting her parents because I already have – even though they were actually in town to meet her ex-boyfriend during med school. There's my woman!"

Reed rolled her eyes and softly laughed. "Shut up, doofus."

Jackson watched them greet each other with a quick kiss in amusement. Reed's constant teasing hadn't changed, but her relationship with Charles certainly did. They were officially together. Jackson was grateful their double date worked out two months ago because she no longer gave him crap for always being at their apartment. Sometimes she stayed at his place, which he didn't mind at all. He and April had all of the privacy in the world. And Reed was less uptight. He credited Charles for loosening her up.

"Where are you two heading?" the female intern questioned as she walked alongside her coworkers.

"Nowhere really," her boyfriend answered, nodding his head towards Jackson. "Just giving the Jackman a pep talk for tomorrow's meeting with April's parents. He's freaking out now."

"I am _not_ freaking out," Jackson groaned unconvincingly. Both Charles and Reed stared at him with skeptical expressions on their faces. "Okay, maybe a little, but these people could be my in-laws one day."

Reed gasped. "Are you proposing tomorrow?"

"No, no, no!" he panicked, quickly shaking his head. "I promise I'm not proposing to April. That would be way too soon. I'd have to ask Joe for permission, so he doesn't murder me-"

"Wait. Does that mean you've thought about wanting to marry her?" Charles asked eagerly. His roommate avoided eye contact with him and Reed as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "We knew you were in love with her, but you're that serious about her? Do I get to be the best man?"

Jackson sighed in annoyance. "Forget I said anything. We're happy where we are. Marriage shouldn't even matter right now." There was silence amongst the threesome for about ten seconds, then he looked at his peers concerned. "I bought her a necklace for her birthday. That's not too much, right?"

"As long as you didn't drain your bank account on her, I think you're alright," Reed assured him, then she laughed. "I bet it screams 'I love you' more than _The Joy of Sex_ did."

"Whatever. That book has done wonders for our sex lives," he jokingly retorted. "You should know that."

"Don't remind me. Having April as my unofficial alarm clock is _not_ enjoyable," she scoffed. "Geez, Avery. Must you two have sex as soon as you wake up?"

"Oh, please. I've had my share of waking up to _your_ noise," Jackson sneered. He smiled to himself when Reed's cheeks changed to a rosy color. She and April were very different from each other, but they had at least one thing in common – they were both loud in bed. "No comeback?"

Reed lightly punched his arm. "You're an ass. At least keep it in your pants until after April's parents leave. A few days without sex won't kill you."

"That's what you think," Charles muttered, drawing a stern look from his girlfriend. "We're guys."

"Yeah, exactly," Jackson agreed. "We're guys who love sex with our girlfriends."

Watching the two roommates exchange a special handshake and a chest bump while letting out their version of a manly growl, Reed shook her head as she walked away from them. "You two are so lame."

* * *

It was finally April 23rd. The perky intern slept peacefully in her bed on her day off, a lovely indirect birthday present from work. The sound of her bedroom door creaking caused her to stir in her sleep. Jackson carried a tray inside while he whistled the tune of "Happy Birthday". He claimed to be the worst singer ever and vowed to never sing in front of a single living soul, so he resorted to whistling, which seemed to fully wake her up.

She rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes as the weight of her boyfriend's body slowly pushed down beside her. After opening her eyes, she saw Jackson sitting on her bed with a tray holding a plate of pancakes, a glass of orange juice and a lighter on his lap. He wanted to be the first person to greet his girlfriend on her birthday, so he spent the night. For once, they didn't have sex, but that didn't necessarily mean neither of them hadn't thought about it.

"Happy Birthday, gorgeous," he greeted her and pointed at the tray on his lap. "I uhh, made some pancakes. They're just buttermilk, but it's my first time making these from scratch, so feel free to hate them if they taste like crap. And I tried to decorate it a bit with some strawberry syrup and a teeny bit of powdered sugar. It's like an alternative to a birthday cake."

April sat up on her bed with a grin on her face. "You cooked breakfast for me?" She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. It was the first time a man served her breakfast in bed. Her boyfriend continued to surprise her with his gestures. "You're the best. I love you."

Jackson stuck a pink candle in the middle of the stack of pancakes. He lit the candle and raised the tray in front of her. "Here, make a wish first," he excitedly said. She quietly thought to herself before she held her hair back and blew out the candle. "What'd you wish for? Or are you the kind of person who doesn't tell?"

"Well, to be honest, I already got what I wanted about five months ago," she shyly replied. "Despite that short break up between us, I'm really happy. So, I wished for another five months of happiness with you and hopefully, five more months after that."

"That's a wish I can live with," he concurred. Scooting beside her on the bed, he placed the tray on her lap and kissed her cheek. "Now, I'm all for constructive criticism, but don't be too harsh if my pancakes are below average."

"I'm sure they're just fine." April cut a piece of Jackson's pancake and fed herself. He appeared anxious for her reaction as she slowly chewed her food. "Reed didn't help you make these?"

"No, why?"

"Just curious because this is delicious," she answered and laughed when he let out a sigh of relief. "You always tell me you're hardly a good cook, but your pancakes are wonderful. Not dry nor are they runny. They're perfect."

Jackson grinned, taking the fork out of April's hand. "I knew they would be," he insisted. She rolled her eyes as he tasted his own cooking. "You weren't kidding. I make pretty damn good pancakes."

"My birthday's over already? Don't steal my breakfast, dear," she playfully scolded him, retrieving the fork from him. April continued to eat her pancakes, while Jackson innocently watched her. She laughed at how often his eyes gazed down at her plate. "If you want some, you can have some. I was just messing with you a minute ago."

"I'm okay. You can keep eating, but how about you open your birthday present at the same time?" he suggested. Squeezed in between his waist and the garter of his basketball shorts, was the thin black box holding the necklace he bought for her.

"Sure! I can't turn down presents, especially ones from you," she chirped.

He covered her eyes with one hand while he reached for the box with the other. Holding his gift in front of her, he removed his hand from her face. "Alright, I hope you like it. I really made an effort this time to find a meaningful present. This one honestly comes from the heart."

Opening her eyes, she stared at the box sitting in his hand with wide eyes. "Oh, gosh," she softly gasped. Thinking he could be bluffing, she didn't want to jump to conclusions and assume he bought her jewelry. Inside could be a bookmark for _The Joy of Sex_ for all she knew. Setting her fork down, she picked up the box and opened it. Waiting for her inside was a sterling silver chain necklace with an outline of a heart. The lower half of the heart was covered in small diamonds. "Jackson, you didn't."

"Guilty as charged," he sheepishly replied. Her facial expression appeared indifferent, which wasn't what he had been expecting. "Umm… you don't like it? I-I didn't buy this to show off. I've never actually bought jewelry for a girlfriend before, but I love you and I thought… you'd appreciate it. I guess not."

"What? That's not true. I'm simply trying to let the shock pass," she promised, a smile forming on her face. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much. You didn't have to do this."

Jackson shook his head. "I didn't buy you that because I felt like I had to. I wanted to." He carefully picked up the necklace from the box and held it in front of April's chest. "Let's see how it looks on you."

She briefly lifted her hair, so he could attach the piece of jewelry around her neck. Looking down at the thin heart-shaped design, she picked it up with her thumb and index finger. "I really love this, Jackson. You're such a sweetheart. How did I get so lucky?"

"I ask myself the same question every day," he answered before kissing her cheek and moving down to her neck. After his conversation with Reed and Charles, he realized he couldn't imagine being with anyone else. The redhead beside him could be _the_ one because nobody had ever made him feel the way he did about her.

* * *

Reed volunteered to pick up April's parents from the airport, so her roommate could get ready to have lunch with them. She used the opportunity to introduce herself to Big Joe and Karen and ramble about how amazing of a boyfriend Jackson was. The Kepner's were warmhearted people. She wished her own parents were like them, but she grew up with adults who cared more about quantity than quality in the Adamson household. It always came down to money, so when she left home for college, she chose to avoid going home as much as possible.

After a quick detour to their hotel to check in and drop off their luggage, they arrived at the apartment. Reed led them inside and it was quiet with the exception of the shower running in the bathroom.

"This is our home. April always makes sure the apartment is nice and tidy," she commented.

"You have a lovely apartment, Reed," Karen complimented. "Where's our daughter?"

"She's in the shower. I'll go knock and let her know you're here." Reed left the living room and walked towards the bathroom. She knocked on the door as she rested her head against it. "April, your parents are here now."

Inside of the bathroom, April's eyes widened after realizing she had lost track of time. "I'll be out in a minute!" she called out, then she slapped Jackson's shoulder and whispered, "Jackson, put me down! They're here!"

"Huh?" Her boyfriend was too caught up with the mind blowing sex they were having in the shower to fully comprehend the situation. He thought maybe he could last one day without making love to April, but when she invited him to take a shower with her all bets were off.

She pushed him away, then she turned off the shower. Grabbing her towel, she threw another one at Jackson's face. "They're _here_," she repeated. "Oh, gosh. They can't see both of us coming out of the bathroom. My father will freak. Just wait here until I can distract them long enough for you to hide in my bedroom. Get dressed and pretend you were in there the whole time."

April left the bathroom in a hurry and retreated to her bedroom. She slipped on underwear and traded her towel for a robe, then she took a deep breath before she nervously entered the living room. "Mom, Dad… hi!" she cheerfully greeted them. "Sorry if I'm dripping water on the floor. I just got out of the shower."

Karen was the first parent to hug her. "Oh, it's no problem at all. Happy Birthday, sweetie!"

Joe joined in on the small group hug. "We missed you, firebug." He kissed her forehead and smiled. "And from what Reed told us on the way here, you're doing just fine living away from home. I was always confident you could branch out on your own."

"Thanks, Dad. I missed you both too," she replied, pulling away from her parents. April pointed over her shoulder. "Anyway, make yourselves comfortable and I'll be ready in less than thirty minutes. Our reservation at the restaurant isn't until one o'clock, so we're still on time."

"Okay, while we wait, do you mind if I use your bathroom for a minute? You know how claustrophobic I get in airplane stalls," Joe chuckled. "Those restrooms weren't designed for giants like me."

"Sure- oh, no wait!" April's father had already made his way to the bathroom before she could stop him. She immediately followed him hoping Jackson was in her bedroom by then.

Unfortunately when he opened the door, her half-naked boyfriend was inside with a towel wrapped around his waist. All three of them had very different surprised expressions on their faces. Mortified, confused and scared. Not exactly the perfect introduction Jackson was hoping for – and on April's birthday, go figure.

His eyes slowly glanced up at the tall man standing in the doorway. Big Joe lived up to his nickname. His shaved head practically matched Jackson's and he sported a neatly trimmed brown beard with a few specks of silver mixed in. And the stern stare he was giving the young intern didn't help him feel any more comfortable. The huge high school ring on Joe's right hand intimidated him. Jackson imagined a large imprint of the ring's design on his cheek as a result from the punch he likely deserved. He was banging his unwed daughter. What father appreciated that?

"Uhh, Daddy… this is Jackson, my boyfriend," she timidly introduced him. "I told you all about him on the phone, remember?"

"I do remember, but you never mentioned he was living here too," Joe suspiciously said, folding his arms as he kept his eyes on Jackson. He furrowed eyebrows when the pretty boy smiled at him. "What are you smiling for, boy?"

Jackson quickly frowned, then he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, sir. Your daughter is a wonderful woman," he murmured. He lowered his hand when Joe refused to shake it. "I should… go get dressed."

"_After_ April's finished," he added, looking back at April. "Go ahead, firebug. I'll keep an eye on him until you've dressed yourself. And don't worry. He'll be alive when you return."

"Thank God," Jackson mumbled to himself. He caught Big Joe glaring at him, forcing him clear his throat as he held his hands behind his back. "Umm… I'm looking forward to bonding with you, sir."

* * *

Sitting together at the Purple Café in downtown Seattle, April firmly held Jackson's hand on top of their table as she smiled at her parents. The awkward meeting between her boyfriend and Big Joe partially ruined what should have been a laid back birthday. Her father clearly wasn't impressed after finding out she had been sharing a shower with a man, which also signaled to him that her virgin status no longer existed either. Karen was more lenient towards Jackson, inviting him for a hug when they finally met. She couldn't stop admiring his bluish-green eyes.

"Tell us about yourself, dear," Karen politely started, sharing the same smile as April. "We heard you're from Boston?"

Jackson nodded as he sipped from his glass of water. "Yes. Born and raised. Most of my family resides in Boston," he casually answered, though he avoided eye contact with Joe. "I've uhh, thought about possibly bringing April home with me after our internship, so she could meet them. We'll have a short break between the end of our internship and the beginning of our first year as residents. I would really love to show her around my hometown."

April appeared caught off-guard by his plan because he hadn't discussed the possibility of bringing her home until now. She listened to all of his stories about how dreadful it was sometimes being an Avery, so she was surprised he wanted her to meet his family regardless. "I would love to visit Boston," she happily agreed. "I've never been there before."

"And when you find the time you can return the favor and bring Jackson home to Moline," Karen suggested, gently patting Big Joe's hand. "You don't seem like somebody who's been on a farm. Joe will gladly put you through a crash course of how to run one."

"I recently purchased a new tractor," Joe noted, grinning at his daughter's beau. "Very powerful and sturdy. Standing in front of it would be a big mistake. I'm fairly certain one could die instantly if struck down by it. Fortunately, I haven't experienced anything like that before, but there's a first for everything."

Jackson nearly choked on his water. Big Joe already developed plans in his head to murder him. He pictured himself as the brand new scarecrow in the cornfields. April's father was the epitome of overprotective fathers, at least by his standards. His chance of impressing him flew out the window when he found him barely covered up in the bathroom.

Sensing tension building up between the two men, April decided to take matters into her own hands. "Dad, I don't think I told you about how Jackson played football for Harvard," she intervened, reassuringly squeezing Jackson's hand. "He loves football just like you do."

"Is that so?" her father responded, raising his eyebrow at him. "What position did you play, son?"

"I split time between wide receiver and safety, sir," he happily replied. "Although, I did play a bit of tight end in high school, but I was too small for the position in college."

"Tight end. That's what I played in high school. If it wasn't for my bum knee, I most likely would have tried to walk on at Ohio State," he said with a less threatening tone in his voice. "You like the Buckeyes?"

_Hell fucking no._ "Yeah, they're pretty great every year," Jackson lied. Being from the East coast, he loathed teams from the Midwest, especially Ohio State and Michigan. But he was desperate to win any points from Big Joe. The tidbit about tight end was appearing to be a lifesaver for him even though he had actually only played the position once in high school.

"You're a Boston native, so you must love the New England Patriots."

_Of course. Nobody's better than Tom Brady._ "They're alright," he nonchalantly answered. "But my first love is basketball. I'm a diehard Celtics fan. April gave me the best Christmas present."

April nodded in agreement. "He really is. I bought him a Celtics jacket for Christmas and he wears it almost every day, but some of the locals here aren't so kind to him about that," she quipped. She decided to show off her necklace to her parents. "And this is what he gave me for my birthday. Isn't he the sweetest?"

Karen leaned forward against the table to have a better look at the diamond necklace. "That's a beautiful necklace, Jackson. You have fine taste in jewelry," she praised.

"And he made me breakfast in bed," her daughter added gleefully.

"Well, you sure know how to treat a lady," she complimented. "The boys back at home were not too kind to her in high school. Very cruel teenagers, but I'm grateful she found a caring man like you. Don't you think so, Joe?"

Big Joe nodded his head once before he took a sip of water. "We want our April to marry a man who will always love and respect her."

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck as he nervously laughed. "Marriage? That- that's not in the cards at the moment," he reluctantly said, exchanging a quick glance with April. "We don't even live together, but I completely and wholeheartedly respect your daughter, sir. I love her more than life itself. That's the truth."

April cleared her throat as she stood up from her seat. "I'm going to use the restroom," she excused herself, her cheeks having turned bright red. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, I'll come with you," Karen said, leaving the table with her daughter.

Now Jackson was left alone with Big Joe, which he knew was done on purpose. The silence between them grew uncomfortable. He gulped down the rest of his water and sighed. What the hell could they talk about next?

"How's your relationship with your father, son?" the older man inquired.

"Nonexistent. He's not in my life anymore," he truthfully answered, fidgeting with the napkin on his lap. "Uhh, he was always too busy at the hospital to spend time with me. Then he pretty much burned out from surgery and left the family when I was in high school. I don't know where he is now."

"That must have been tough for you."

Jackson shrugged. "I can't do much about it now," he bitterly said. "Listen, I'm sorry for how we met earlier. I… I had been hoping to make a good first impression with both you and Karen, but based on the way you've been looking at me I think I failed."

"I'll be honest with you. Meeting my daughter's boyfriend in nothing but a towel wasn't how I expected us to meet," Big Joe admitted, folding his hands on top of the table. He noticed the drops of sweat forming on Jackson's forehead and laughed. "Are you afraid of me, son?"

"Fathers scare me in general," he replied, his voice slightly cracking. Unbuttoning the first few buttons of his dress shirt, he fanned himself and sighed. "But you are by far the scariest father I've met. No bullshit."

His comments made Joe laugh even harder. "Good."

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"April has always been a fragile, sensitive woman out of my four daughters. She wasn't the most popular like Libby, the most artistic like Kimmie or the most athletic like Alice, but I knew there was something special deep inside of her. She was definitely the smartest. When her 11-year old self told me she wanted to be a doctor I knew it would happen because when she wanted something badly she was determined to have it. Of course, her insecurities were an obstacle, so I would offer that little push she needed to succeed."

"You raised her well, sir."

Big Joe waved his hand towards himself, asking Jackson to lean closer to him. "Off the record?" he whispered. "I cried like a baby when April moved out here. We share a very close bond, so when the time comes to give her away to her future husband I want to be 100% confident I'm letting her go to the right man."

Jackson half-smiled at him. "So, umm… do you think I could be that man? I mean, marriage is probably far away from now, but I really care about her. She's the first friend I made at Mercy West. In the surgical world, my last name is a big deal to people. I'm not a huge fan of the attention because they just want to get close to my famous grandfather, but April was different when I met her. She sees me for who I am and I appreciate that." He took a deep breath. "And if one day I decide I want to take our relationship to the next level, I hope I will have your blessing. This probably feels premature, but… I think… oh, crap. I'm going to vomit."

"You're already asking me for my daughter's hand in marriage?"

"No- umm… maybe?" he uncomfortably said, picking up April's glass of water and drinking from it. "Too soon? I promise if anything happens to her you can run me over with your tractor."

"How long have you two been dating?" Joe asked curiously.

Jackson gazed up at the ceiling as he counted quietly in his head. "About four months," he sheepishly replied. "But people can fall in love at any moment, right?"

"Certainly. I already knew I loved her mother from the minute I met her in our English class at Ohio State," he recalled. "We were freshmen. After meeting Karen, I never looked at another woman again. I knew she would be my wife."

"I feel that way about April. I don't think any other woman matches up to her."

Big Joe stroked his beard, then he pointed his finger at Jackson. "Here's the deal. I'll let you marry her, but you have to promise me you won't get her pregnant before you're married. Break the deal and I _will_ run you over with my tractor. Agreed?"

Jackson softly laughed, though he suspected the farmer was serious about running him over. "Yes, agreed." He reached across the table and held out his hand. "Can we shake this time, sir?"

"Why not?" His larger hand grasped the intern's and he firmly shook it. "And you can call me, Joe."

"Okay, _Joe_. Thank you," he said, feeling more relieved.

The two Kepner women returned from the restroom and took their seats. April watched Jackson wipe his forehead with his handkerchief, then she looked at her father concerned. "Dad, what did you do to him while we were gone?"

"Nothing, firebug," Big Joe chuckled. He gestured his hand towards Jackson. "He and I reached an understanding with each other, that's all. You have yourself a fine boyfriend."

She glanced back at Jackson, who nodded and smiled at her. Whatever they had discussed while she was away, she decided to pry it out from him later. She was just thankful her father was no longer giving him the death stare. Her birthday hadn't turned disastrous like she had expected after what happened at the apartment.

"So… everything's good now?"

Jackson rested his hand on her thigh and kissed her cheek. "Better than good," he assured her. "I already feel like I'll fit in with your family just fine."

* * *

**Only 2 more chapters left, folks! ;)**


	19. Study Buddies

**Thanks for the reviews! We're getting close to the end and it feels like I've been writing this forever lol, so thank you to those who have been around from the start :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Okay, Jackson. Answer this question," April started, holding up one of her many index cards. With their intern exam coming up in two weeks, studying for the test that determined whether or not they graduate intern status was tough to come by. The grueling hours working as interns hadn't left much time for them to cram for the next important test in their young careers. By the time their shifts ended, they preferred sleeping over studying. "What surgical approaches can be used for spinal stenosis?"

The light snores coming from Jackson was the only answer given. He lay flat on April's bed, eyes closed and an open textbook rising up and down against his chest. She was just as exhausted as he was, but she desperately wanted to study for the exam. In her mind, any time wasted down to the second could be vital to passing or failing. She had openly admitted to over studying for most of her exams since she was a child and did just fine, but she refused to take any chances with the intern exam. Failing meant repeating her internship and another year of scut.

"Jackson!" She picked up her pillow and hit him square in the face with it.

Her boyfriend snorted while he woke up from his sleep. Jackson rubbed his eyes as he slowly sat up on the bed. "What?" Opening his eyes, he noticed April staring at him with her arms folded. "What did I do?"

"We're supposed to be studying together. It doesn't help if you're asleep and I'm talking to myself," she scolded him.

Jackson reached for the clock on the bedside table, squinting his eyes as he checked the time. "April, it's past 1 AM. We've been studying for at least three hours now and we have work in six. We should get some rest," he groggily suggested. "C'mon, we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."

April neatly stacked her index cards and secured them together with a rubber band. "I can't believe you're not freaking out over this. The future of our surgical careers depends on this test," she worriedly said. "We don't pass, we get left behind and we resort to working at McDonald's."

He closed the textbook on his lap and set it on the floor. "Freaking out leads to over thinking. Over thinking leads to self-doubt-"

"And fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering, yada, yada, yada," she muttered to herself, leaving Jackson incredibly confused. He stared at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, causing her cheeks to flush. "I-I was unleashing my inner Yoda for a second. Did I forget to tell you I'm kind of a closet _Star Wars_ fan?"

"No, but that's… completely fine with me," he said, a mischievous grin forming on his pretty boy face.

She felt slightly unnerved by the way his eyes scanned her body like he was trying process a mental image in his head. "What are you thinking about right now?"

"You wearing Princess Leia's slave outfit from _Return of the Jedi_. Hot," Jackson teased, tickling April's thigh while he ran his fingertips against her exposed skin. The skimpy, light gray shorts she wore for bed only encouraged his perverted thoughts. He laughed when she slapped his hand away. "Hey, you brought up _Star Wars_ not me. I'm simply following your lead."

"I never told you to start fantasizing about me dressed as Princess Leia." April softly laughed as she glanced down at her body. "I don't even have the figure to fit into a costume like that. Plus, I heard it was very uncomfortable."

Jackson pulled her onto his lap, securely wrapping his arms around her waist to prevent her from escaping. "All the more reason to take it off faster," he insisted, then he placed gentle kisses along her neck. "As for your figure, you're wrong. You have a very gorgeous and _sexy_ body."

April playfully pushed him away. "I thought you wanted to go to bed. And when I mean bed, I mean sleeping with clothes on and no sex," she reminded him. He refused to let go of her when she tried to scoot off of his lap. "Jackson, do I have to smack you around?"

"I don't mind," he chuckled, drawing an eye roll from her. He rested his chin on her shoulder, taking in the scent of her lavender shampoo. "Just relax for a minute and cuddle with me. Worrying about the intern exam is making you tense, so let's sit here and be quiet for a moment."

Sitting sideways on her boyfriend's lap, she gently stroked the back of his head with her fingers. Playing with his shaved head was soothing. She loved the touch of the bristles on his head against her skin. He hadn't shaved his face in a week, so she slightly squirmed whenever his scruff brushed against her neck.

"Hmm… we're almost meditating," she whispered. "It's peaceful."

"Mmhmm," he hummed, rubbing her lower back with his hand. "Are you ready for Boston?"

The plane tickets were purchased and the dates were set for their weeklong vacation in Boston following the completion of their internship. Jackson already had an entire itinerary planned. He wanted her to see the famous landmarks, bring her to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game, dine at his favorite restaurants and introduce her to the rest of the Avery clan. His mother was looking forward to her baby boy bringing home a girlfriend she approved of. She wanted to give April a tour of the Brigham and Woman's Hospital in case she considered a change of scenery for her fellowship in the future.

One thing Jackson knew for certain – Harper Avery was going to try to convince him to complete his residency at Mass Gen. He had been prepared for it since he started his internship at Mercy West. And his answer hadn't changed: a big fat, "No, thank you."

He tried not to worry about his grandfather and sisters' reaction to April, but they were the judgmental type. Not everybody was worthy to be an Avery in their minds. They were like royalty in the surgical world. Harper wanted his grandchildren marrying surgeons with prestigious names. Kepner wasn't a well known name, but he loved the fact that she was probably the first surgeon in her family.

"I'm excited," she happily answered. "Do you think your family will like me?"

"I hope they will," he sighed. "They can be picky."

"What do you mean?"

Jackson gazed up at the redhead, slightly frowning. "My grandfather expects me to marry a surgeon with a respected name and he's already brainwashed my sisters into following his advice. Don't take it personal if he talks down to you like you're worthless because I don't think you are." He ran his fingers through her red locks and smiled. "The women with the famous names are also the lousiest ones in my book. Down to earth women like you are worth marrying."

April stared at him surprised. "You… you want to marry me?" she reluctantly asked and bit on her lower lip.

It wasn't too long ago when neither of them were looking to settle down, Jackson especially. But they had only been dating for more than a week when the conversation occurred. A lot had happened since then. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, though. He could have been speaking in general, she thought.

"It's funny, you know? Coming to Seattle was my way of dodging my family's legacy at Mass Gen. I just came here to learn how to become the next greatest surgeon without their help. Have flings here and there, but nothing serious." He carefully flipped her onto her back, supporting himself by pressing his palms against the mattress. "And then I met you and everything feels… different."

"Good different?"

Jackson softly kissed April's lips. "Definitely good different." He laid his head beside hers and smiled as he whispered into her ear, "One day, I don't know when, but one of these days… when you least suspect it I'm going to drop down on one knee, pull a small box out of my pocket and ask you to be my wife."

She found herself becoming emotional and it wasn't even a real proposal. Her eyes were filling up with tears listening to him describe his ideal proposal situation. "Really?"

"Uh huh, and you're going to cry tears of happiness before you finally manage to choke out the word yes to me," he continued, kissing her jaw line simultaneously. "Then, I'll place the beautiful diamond on your finger before swooping you up into my arms and bragging to everyone watching that I truly am the luckiest man alive."

"So, umm… how big is this diamond?" she quipped, rapidly blinking her eyes to dry her tears. They shared a laugh before she cleared her throat. "You've thought about this before, haven't you?"

He lifted his head to look at her with a sheepish grin on his face. "Maybe," he said, stroking April's cheek with his thumb. "I can't help it. When I stare at you I just… have all of these feelings that I've never had before. Not once have I second guessed being in love with you."

April eagerly pulled Jackson's head towards hers and kissed him passionately. He was initially caught off-guard by her sudden display of affection, but he gradually returned the kiss. "We're not going to bed yet," she mumbled against his lips while lifting his t-shirt and removing it for him.

"I'm not to argue with you," he chuckled as he pushed up her own t-shirt. "It sure as hell beats studying."

* * *

The following day at the hospital, April covered her mouth and yawned as she left the locker room in her scrubs and lab coat. Her night with Jackson had gone longer than expected, so she was starting her shift on three hours of sleep. Once he worked his magic on her, it was nearly impossible to stop. Trying to be study buddies with her boyfriend appeared to be a bad idea because she found it difficult to concentrate around him.

"Hey, wait up!" Trevor called out as he chased after her down the hallway. He slipped his hands inside of his lab coat pockets while he walked alongside April. He quickly took note of the bags underneath her eyes. "Pull an all-nighter studying?"

"Sort of," she shyly replied. "Studying happened, but I don't think some of the things Jackson and I studied are going to be on the intern exam."

He rolled his eyes and snickered. "Please, I highly doubt you haven't memorized Jackson's anatomy by now," he teased. "Besides, you probably don't need to study as much as the rest of us. You're the smartest of the bunch. You've got this in the bag already."

April shook her head. "That's not true. I could easily fail if I underestimate this test." She nudged Trevor's chest with the back of her hand. "Why don't you and I become study buddies? I love Jackson, but I get easily distracted by him and it's harder to study. It'll be fun. I've got flashcards ready and everything."

"I find your definition of fun underwhelming," he jokingly stated.

"I'm serious, Trev. I have to study with somebody who I know won't try to make any moves on me," she insisted, linking elbows with her coworker. "Consider it, please? The exam is _two_ weeks away. I've been studying since the end of April for this. Cramming won't do you any good."

"You sure Jackson won't be upset that you're ditching him for me?" Trevor asked concerned. "He and Charles still have no idea that I'm gay and I think Jackson gets a little agitated when you and I hang out."

"Why haven't you told them yet? You can trust them, right?"

He quickly shrugged. Since coming out to April, Trevor hadn't opened up to anybody else about his sexuality. Every time he thought he might finally tell his roommates, he chickened out. It wasn't that he was paranoid about them disapproving of his true identity. He just never quite felt ready.

She tenderly squeezed his forearm and smiled. "Would it help if I was there for moral support? Or… Oh! Maybe all five of us can arrange a mini study party and you could tell them then," she suggested. "We're an open minded group. Being gay shouldn't affect your friendships with Jackson, Charles and Reed. In fact, you and I are better friends because of this."

"True," he agreed. "Maybe Friday night at our apartment? I really do need to study more."

"Sounds good. We can tell the others now." April clapped her hands and softly squealed with excitement. "I'm really glad you've decided to finally tell them. I am very proud of you, Trev."

The perky intern kissed his cheek just as they met up with the rest of their intern group. Charles used the opportunity to poke fun at his roommate. "Whoa, you better watch out, Avery. Trevor's trying to steal April from ya," he lightheartedly warned.

"Shush, Percy," April retorted, then she approached Jackson and greeted him with a kiss. Although, they arrived at the hospital together, she couldn't resist acknowledging him the same way she did when they woke up that morning. "I'm going to need at least two soy vanilla lattes today."

"You and me both," the pretty boy concurred. "I'll buy the first round after whatever Swanson forces me to do."

Trevor nodded his head towards April. "So, Kepner's suggesting the five of us try to study together for the intern exam. How about it, you guys? Friday night at our place? I volunteer us men to take care of the food," he offered.

"In other words, pizza delivery," Reed chimed in, smirking at Charles. He gave her a thumbs up in response. "Fine. April and I will bring over the booze. You know we're gonna need it after our heads explode from information overload."

Swanson arrived with a familiar face from their rival hospital. "Guppies, this is George O'Malley," she introduced the Seattle Grace intern to her group. "He's transferring here from Seattle Grace. Well, pending on his intern exam result, but he's here for a tour and one of you lucky folks will be given the honor of showing him around."

April waved at George and smiled. "Hi, Dr. O'Malley. It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Dr. Kepner," he awkwardly replied with a half-smile before he pointed at her. "Uhh, I'd feel better if she gave me the tour since I did the same favor at Seattle Grace. I mean, well… I was supposed to, but there was a mix up and this other guy tried to steal my job-"

"Kepner, you're on tour duty. Go," Swanson intervened and dismissed April from their group. "Avery, I need you to run a few labs for rooms 2387, 2392 and 2395. Adamson and Percy, you're downstairs in the ER. And Stanley, you're with me today."

Leisurely walking down the hallway, April led George to the closest set of elevators. "How about I show you the OR's first? They probably aren't as large or as pretty as Seattle Grace's, but uhh… we just got new monitors," she tried to say as enthusiastically as possible. It baffled her that anybody would leave Seattle Grace and move to a hospital that was below their level. Mercy West was good, but their rival was excellent. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you choosing to transfer here?"

He entered the elevator with her and sighed. "Uhh, some personal problems that I… can't deal with anymore," he sullenly answered. "You… chose to stay here, I see."

April nodded. "Yup. I had a change of heart. Plus, that Karev guy – total creep," she added and laughed. "Anyway, my boyfriend's here, so staying was the right decision."

"Boyfriend," he muttered. "McPretty? I thought you two broke up. At least, that's what I assumed when Dr. Karev was trying to lure you into an on-call room."

"We did, but we worked out our problems and everything's great." She stepped out of the elevator with George after it reached their destination. "He wants to marry me. I can't believe someone out there wants to marry _me_."

"Why do you think that? I mean, I hardly know you, but judging by our past meetings you seem like a very kind woman," George complimented. "I got married."

"Oh, really? Congratu-"

"No," he cut her off, shaking his head in frustration. "Marriage… it's not as glamorous as one might think. You think you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, but you really just propose on the spur of the moment after your father dies. Then, you get drunk and sleep with your best friend, who has feelings for you…"

He stopped rambling when he noticed April staring at him uncomfortably. She kept her mouth shut as her eyes wandered elsewhere. Not exactly encouraging advice for somebody who was giddy about her boyfriend.

George slapped his forehead, dragging his hand down his face after embarrassing himself in front of April. "Listen, I made a horrible mistake that only complicated things that were already complicated in the first place. I… I bet this Jackson guy isn't a moron like I am. You want to marry him, then you go ahead and do that. Just don't jump into it because you think it's the right thing to do or you don't believe there's somebody else out there for you. Take your time."

"Jackson hasn't proposed, if that's what you're assuming. We've just sort of talked about it," she explained. "Anyway, it's not our biggest priority at the moment. Passing our intern exam is. Our futures won't be a reality if we fail, so you better study, study, study."

"Right. Nothing screams failure more than the inability to pass your intern exam," the Seattle Grace intern unenthusiastically said. He clearly had a lot of issues going on in his personal life because April remembered him as a bashful, yet sweet person in the past. Now, he appeared bothered and almost depressed.

April offered a pat on his shoulder. "If you do transfer here, you won't regret it. I promise," she encouraged him. "With the exception of some sour grapes, we're a friendly bunch."

"Good, because people like you and me, the ones who want just a little bit of respect and never get it, don't fit in at Seattle Grace," he bitterly replied. "You wouldn't have liked it there."

She slowly nodded, though she sensed he told her that out of anger. Seattle Grace didn't have Jackson. In retrospect, contemplating leaving Mercy West was a ridiculous idea. "I'm glad I stayed then. I'm happy being here."

* * *

Friday night usually meant it was date night, but instead of searching for something to do in downtown Seattle, the five interns were bundled up in the men's apartment for a much needed study group. April organized a game for her four friends because they considered themselves to be the ones who should be studying the most. She created a scoreboard for them with their names listed at the top.

Standing behind the coffee table with her index cards in hand, April excitedly grinned at the foursome, who were squeezed together on the couch in front of her. Beside her was the handcrafted scoreboard sitting on a stand. "Okay, you guys. You have no idea how thrilled I am that you agreed to play this game. It'll be fun and you'll be learning at the same time-"

"How about we make this a drinking game?" Charles slyly suggested, interrupting April's bubbly speech. "This is how it goes – whoever doesn't answer the question has to take a shot _if_ the person answering guesses correctly. But if you're answering and get it wrong, _you_ take the shot. Fair, right?"

"No, no, no!" April immediately dismissed while she waved her arms. "No drinking. I'm trying to help you guys pass this test. What good will it do if you're too drunk to answer the questions I'm asking?"

"But the point of the game is to answer as many questions as possible, so we _aren't_ too drunk. The winner will obviously be the least wasted of the bunch," Reed pointed out. She patted Charles' hand and smiled. "I like this idea. Let's do it. Definitely more intriguing than just a tally on the scoreboard."

Trevor raised his hand. "Hold on, wait. April should be a part of this game too, so for every three questions we answer correctly as a whole, _she_ downs a shot," he proposed, smugly grinning at the unimpressed redhead. "C'mon, Apes. Lighten up. If we completely suck at this game, then you've got nothing to worry about."

April placed her hands on her hips. "Yes, I will. It means none of you are ready for this exam!"

Jackson hopped up from the couch and ran towards the kitchen. "I'll get the vodka and the shot glasses," he called out, ignoring his girlfriend's protests. A minute later, he returned with a stack of five shot glasses and a large, unopened bottle of vodka. He set it on the coffee table before he faced an upset April. "We have the day off tomorrow, babe. We can sleep in for as long as we want, so you're playing."

"Fine, fine," she groaned. "But actually try to answer questions over drinking for the fun of it."

"I want to pass this just as much as you do, okay? We'll have other days to study without the alcohol involved," he insisted and poured vodka into each shot glass. Reclaiming his seat on the couch again, he gestured his hand towards her. "The floor is yours."

April peered down at the first flashcard. "Alright. Whoever rings the little bell I provided you with first gets to answer. Here's the first question," she started. "Vasodilation of lower extremity blood vessels, resulting in pooling of blood, hypotension and bradycardia are signs of what condition?"

Reed beat the men by ringing her bell first. "Neurogenic shock," she calmly answered before smirking at the three roommates. "Drink up, boys."

Watching them drink their first round of vodka shots, April nervously laughed as she wrote a tally mark underneath Reed's name. "Two more shots to go," she reminded herself. "Umm, maybe we should take a quick break?"

"Are you kidding me?" Charles dismissively waved his hands. "No break. Keep going. We're professional drinkers."

"Okay, then next question. What is the most common cause of a spontaneous intestinal fistula?

Jackson rung in first this time. "That would be Crohn's Disease, my lovely lady," he answered, winking at his girlfriend. "Do I get a kiss for that one?"

"Shut up, Jackson," she retorted, writing a point below his name. "The more you kiss my ass the less likely you're getting laid tonight, so don't get smart with me."

He chuckled at her sudden feistiness. "I love this side of you."

Reed reached over Charles' lap and lightly slapped Jackson's arm. "Keep it in your pants, Avery," she playfully scolded him. "When are you _not_ horny for your girlfriend?"

"Can we get back on track, please?" April asked irritably. Her coworkers quieted down before she moved on to the next index card. "Kussmaul's sign is associated with what condition?"

Trevor rung his bell a split second before Jackson and grinned at him. "Cardiac tamponade." He watched the others drink another shot. "You suck at this, Percy. Better step up your game before you're too wasted to answer anything right."

"Hey, hey. This is a smack talk free environment," April informed them. "Next question."

"Whoa, not so fast. It's your turn to down a shot," Charles said, picking up an untouched shot glass of vodka and handing it to her. "Drink."

April sighed before drinking her shot of vodka. It wasn't her personal favorite booze of choice and her face showed it. They cheered her on after she set her shot glass down. She scrunched her nose and cleared her throat. "Alright. Here's the next question."

* * *

_30 minutes later…_

"I feel sick," Charles slowly groaned, clutching his stomach as he slouched on the couch. If anybody had a legitimate excuse to vomit, it was him. Out of the five interns, he had done the most vodka shots and he also held the lowest score of the four participants in April's quiz game. His sober state of mind had already disappeared after losing on the first three questions.

April decided to slow down the pace because she knew some of her friends would be drunk before reaching the sixth question. She also wanted to avoid getting drunk. How was she supposed to ask questions if her mind was too fuzzy to concentrate? And she loathed vodka. Stalling for a few minutes in between questions gave each of them the opportunity to relax before vying for the next one.

She rubbed her eyes after switching to a new index card. It never took long for alcohol to affect her. She wasn't a big drinker to begin with. After vodka shot number four for her, she was feeling quite drunk, but not enough to completely blow off the rest of her game. Not that it mattered, though. By then, everybody was intoxicated. "Umm… next question. W-what is… the most common syntomnym for post-vag… vago-va-jay-jay?" she slurred before giggling to herself.

Trevor lazily rang his bell, then he stood up and placed his hand against his chest. "I don't have a va-jay-jay nor do I like them," he drunkenly said. "No love for va-jay-jay because I'm gaaay."

April threw her index cards in the air like they were pieces of confetti. "Trevor's gay!" she hollered, raising her arms over her head as she danced in a circle. She grabbed Trevor's hands and bounced up and down with him. "Hey, hey! You're gay!"

Charles pushed himself up from the couch and wrapped his giant arms around his two friends. "I'm gay, you're gay. We're all gay here," he quipped, sharing a laugh with them. He stumbled back towards the couch, covering his eyes with his hand as he leaned against the armrest. "I think this game was a bad idea."

Jackson patted his roommate's shoulder hard, making him groan again. "You, sir, are a pussy," he teased, then he stood up and approached April. He playfully grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up from the floor. "I think it's time for bed."

"I'm not sleepy yet, silly," she objected, while her boyfriend carried her over his shoulder. April yelped in excitement when he tossed her onto his bed. "Weeeee!"

He closed his door before sloppily stripping off his clothes as quickly as possible. She watched him in amusement, seductively biting her lower lip as he walked towards her. Sober Jackson constantly thought about sex with April, but his intoxicated side didn't waste a moment thinking and acted on his instincts instead.

April remained fully clothed when his naked body climbed on top of her. He hungrily kissed her, his hands groping every inch of her body. She gasped when he squeezed her breast, but her drunk self unexpectedly enjoyed how rough he was with her. There were many days and nights filled with sex and love making, yet he still managed to find ways to surprise her – albeit, they were both inebriated. But it didn't matter.

She loved vodka now.

* * *

She wasn't sure what time it was, but April desperately needed to use the bathroom. Carefully slipping out from underneath the covers, she scrambled in the dark for a piece of clothing to wear. On the floor was Jackson's Harvard Football t-shirt, which was large enough to cover herself down to her mid-thighs. Her legs felt wobbly as she slowly left his bedroom. Whatever he had done to her prior to falling asleep continued to have a lingering effect on her.

His hands, his lips, his _tongue_. She thought she was going to explode out of her body.

The hallway was dark as she tripped over a shoe. Probably Charles' because he was the messiest of the bunch and couldn't care less where he left his belongings. She finally found the bathroom, nearly blinding herself after she turned on the light. Way too bright for her, so she shut her eyes when she used the toilet. After washing her hands, she groggily walked back down the hallway with one hand resting against the wall for support. She quietly entered the bedroom hoping not to wake up Jackson, though she expected him to be passed out after the workout he gave her.

April climbed back into bed, laying on her side as she reached behind her for Jackson's arm. She wrapped it across her waist, but she thought she would be a bit more daring by slipping his hand underneath the t-shirt she borrowed. His fingers tickling her stomach made her softly giggle. "Jackson…"

"Uhh… who's in bed with me?"

Her eyes widened when she realized the voice didn't belong to Jackson. She panicked, jumping out of the bed and screaming. Whoever was beside her turned on their lamp and it was a nude Trevor. Both of them exchanged screams as they attempted to cover themselves up.

"Why are you naked?!" April shrieked, pulling down the t-shirt to hide herself as much as possible. Her cheeks were bright red as she stared at her friend, embarrassed and horrified at the same time.

"I sleep naked!" Trevor pointed at the redhead. "Why are you practically naked below the waist?!"

"I had sex- I mean, I needed to use the bathroom!" she sheepishly replied, then she shielded her eyes with her forearm. "Can you please cover yourself? I can see your… _everything_."

Trevor quickly grabbed one of his pillows and covered himself from the waist down just as Jackson, Reed and Charles came barging into the bedroom. Their eyes darted back and forth between Trevor and April, who both froze where they stood on opposite sides of the bed.

Jackson, clad only in his boxers, pointed his finger at his roommate, furrowing his eyebrows. "What the hell are you doing with April?!" he sternly questioned, then he glanced back at his girlfriend. "What's going on?"

April raised her hands in front of her chest, her eyes wide open. "It- it's my fault. I went to the bathroom to pee and I walked into the wrong bedroom," she explained, grimacing as she felt even more humiliated by the second. "I thought I was in bed with you. I swear, nothing happened!"

Reed burst into laughter, leaning against the doorway for support. "Oh… my… God," she breathlessly said, resting her hand against her stomach. "This is priceless!"

Charles and Jackson joined her, cracking up at the awkward, yet amusing situation. April dreadfully wanted to hide her face with her boyfriend's t-shirt, but that would only create another embarrassing moment considering she had been too impatient to wear her panties. She was certain they would never let her forget this night.

"C'mere, sweetheart," Jackson chuckled as he approached April. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the bedroom. "Don't feel too bad. At least it wasn't Charles."

"Jackson just- shh!" she scolded him, then she briefly looked back at Trevor. "I am _so_ sorry!"

She ran into Jackson's bedroom and hid underneath the covers. He smiled as he closed the door and joined her on the bed. "April, it wasn't that bad," he assured her. "We're all still pretty drunk, so your judgment wasn't the greatest."

"I saw his penis!"

"Okay. For you, it _was_ that bad," he teased, then he removed his blanket from her head. The color of her cheeks hadn't changed since leaving Trevor's bedroom. They were as red as a rose. "So, how long until you recover from this?"

"Probably never," she answered with a pout. April rolled her eyes when Jackson laughed at her. "It's not _that_ funny. How would you feel if you accidentally walked into Reed's room and snuggled with her naked?"

Jackson shuddered and pretended to gag. "Honestly, I would probably be in pain because she wouldn't hesitate to chop off Awesome Avery and the guys."

April's mouth dropped open, raising an eyebrow at him. "You named your penis?" She shook her head as she lay down on her back and laughed. "Wow. As if this night couldn't get any more awkward for me."

"Look at the bright side, if we're to ever get married, it's necessary to know everything about each other," he implied, leaning towards her and kissing her lips. "And that includes the name of your favorite body part on me."

"You're such a-"

"Stud? Prince Charming? Loving teddy bear?" Jackson suggested, playfully batting his eyelashes at her while he smiled. She guffawed at his silliness, then he lay down beside her. He turned off his lamp before pulling April close to his chest. "You don't think this is a little bit funny?"

"I was about to let him grab my boob," she mumbled. "I'll never live this down."

"Hmm… yeah, probably not," he agreed. She gently nudged him in response and he laughed. "See? Our original study buddy arrangement of just the two of us was much better. Am I right or am I right?"

April smiled as she closed her eyes. "I'll allow you to inflate your ego just this once."

* * *

**The last chapter's coming up sometime this week! Also, I don't plan on writing a sequel for this at the moment. Been writing another Japril fic that I'll start posting in a couple of weeks.**


	20. Closing Time

**Thanks for the reviews, everybody! We've reached the finish line of this one. Just want to thank everybody who took the time to read my fic and for the lovely feedback from you guys! I really appreciate it :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The fateful day had finally arrived. All of the Mercy West interns were twenty minutes away from taking the exam that would determine whether or not they would remain in the surgical program. After almost a full year of working at the hospital, all of the cases they learned from, the procedures they scrubbed in for and even the scut work handed to them had to be worth something. Failing meant having wasted a year of eighty-week hours of work for nothing.

April spent the morning reading every motivational quote she had written in her red notebook since the beginning of her internship. She needed a security blanket to let her know that everything would be alright. Phone calls and text messages from her family helped. Even sex with Jackson was a stress reliever, but her stomach was in knots when the morning of testing day came.

She tightly clutched his hand while they sat beside each other on one of the benches in the locker room. Most of the interns were inside cramming every piece of information they could fit inside of their heads. Others were trying to relax through meditation or listening to music. Some carried on conversations to ease away the anxiety many of them were feeling.

"We'll be fine, right?" she worriedly asked as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"For the thousandth time, yes. We'll be fine," Jackson assured her, kissing the top of his girlfriend's head. He glanced down at Charles and Reed, who were seated in front of them on the floor. "Please tell April we'll all be fine."

"We'll all be fine," the couple answered in unison, though they weren't exactly enthusiastic about it.

Trevor sat down next to April and comfortably rubbed her shoulder. "Remember what I told you? You've got this in the bag, so try not to freak out over this exam," he advised. "And your flashcards were a huge help to all of us, so _when_ we all pass we'll be bowing down to you."

Reed nodded in agreement. "Best roommate ever," she complimented. "Thank God I eventually liked you because I highly doubt anybody else would've been as helpful as you with this studying thing."

"Aww, thanks. You're so sweet," April sarcastically said and laughed. "And to think I wouldn't be friends with any of you when I first met you guys. I mean, I probably made you all look bad when I was the only intern to find Swanson."

"Yeah, we hated you," Charles bluntly replied. He chuckled as April rolled her eyes. "We were wrong about you, Kepner. You've been a freaking lifesaver all year long with the little things you do. Jackson sure as hell is grateful to have met you."

Jackson bashfully smiled. "Well, what about you two?" he questioned, referring to his roommate and Reed. "You've been pining for her since before you knew of our existence. I knocked some sense into Reed and now look at you, you're both happy. Everyone pretty much got what they wanted."

"Not everyone," Trevor muttered, slightly frowning down at his lap.

April picked up his hand and gently rubbed the back of it with her thumb. "Trev, there's a guy out there waiting for you. You'll meet him when fate decides to bring him to you," she insisted, smiling at her friend.

Charles furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait a minute. So when you told us you were gay two weeks ago you weren't kidding?" he inquisitively asked. "Man, I thought you were just wasted like the rest of us."

"I was, but I thought some liquid courage would help me out," his roommate answered sheepishly. "But yeah, it's true. I'm gay, so if you two aren't down with that, I'll go ahead and start finding another place to live."

"Hey, c'mon. We're not those type of people," Jackson reassured Trevor, reaching around April and patting his bicep. He pointed at himself. "My roommate during my freshman year at Harvard was gay. I don't have a problem with it at all."

"Yeah, me too. Nothing wrong with being gay, dude," Charles added. "And uhh, if we made any gay jokes around you, we're sorry. I hope we didn't offend you in any way. You don't have to move out, Trev."

April pounced on Trevor, hugging him tightly. "See? I told you they'd be okay with it," she cheerfully said.

He let out a sigh of relief. None of his friends were ashamed of his homosexuality. Unfortunately, his family hadn't reacted the same way, but at least his Seattle family cared about him. "Thank you, you guys. It's the first time I've really felt accepted by people."

"Oh my God, April and I should totally take you out one night to find a man!" Reed excitedly suggested. She pushed herself up from the floor and sat behind Trevor, joining the hug. Both women were sandwiching him with their hugs. "I know the best places to bring you to."

Charles watched them gush over his roommate, softly laughing to himself. "Why don't they go gaga over us like that?" he asked Jackson. "When we double date they just gang up on us."

The pretty boy shrugged. "As long as they give us some lovin' afterwards, I don't mind at all," he nonchalantly stated.

Swanson entered the locker room and approached her intern group. "Good morning, guppies," she greeted them. All five of them were attentively facing her after she arrived. "So, I just wanted to congratulate you on surviving your internship. I truly believe all of you have the potential to become great surgeons. I may have treated you like crap at times, but we all have our bad days, right? Anyway, good luck on your intern exams. I know you'll do well."

Before their resident could leave, Charles jumped up from the floor and hugged her. "Somewhere in there, I know you liked me the most," he claimed.

She rolled her eyes as she lightly patted his back. "Wrong," she chuckled and playfully pushed him away. "But you're not so bad, Percy. I'll admit that. Still kind of a jackass, but I've worked with worse."

As Swanson left the locker room, April decided to chase after her. Since punching the blonde at the New Year's Eve party, their work relationship had been rocky. She went from being the top intern of the group to the least privileged. However, she felt they needed closure between them.

"Umm, Dr. Swanson," she called out to her resident. April nervously bit her lower lip as her superior slowly turned around on her heel. This marked the first confrontation between them. Whenever she was on Swanson's service, one of the other interns was always assigned with her. It was as if she wasn't allowed to be alone with the third year. "I… I know I haven't been your favorite person since… well, since you tried to steal Jackson from me."

"That was incredibly shady of me and… embarrassing," Swanson murmured. "This year has been rough for me, rougher than I've been letting on. I'm just a third year, but I push myself so hard that I sometimes can't handle everything I'm supposed to be doing. And when I'm stressed I act out or become such a bitch, which is probably why I'm never able to keep roommates around."

"About that, I met your former roommate when I was visiting Seattle Grace. Dr. Torres," April recalled, taking note of the uneasy reaction from Swanson. "She told me _things_ that I never expected to learn about you. Rejections from Seattle Grace and Harvard, the articles you didn't write-"

Swanson raised her hand in front of her chest. "Okay, Kepner. What do you want?" she sternly interrupted. "You want in on more complex surgeries? Your name in one of the articles that I _will_ write? You've humiliated me once before, so if you're out to destroy my reputation because I hit on your boyfriend-"

The redhead quickly shook her head. "No, that's not it. I could've told anybody I wanted about who you really are, but I didn't. I haven't told a soul. You told me once that people would do anything to outshine each other, maybe resort to backstabbing to get to the top, but that's not me. I'm not an idiot. I know you purposely left me out of surgeries for personal reasons, so now you're probably wondering why I'm not doing anything to avenge that."

"Because you're too freakishly nice and you want me to feel as guilty as possible?" she half-heartedly asked.

"Sort of, but blabbing your secrets to everyone won't make me the better person. Whatever you choose to do with your life is your business unless, it involves me. And you should follow the advice you told me during my first shift."

"Which was?"

"Only you can bring you down," April recited. She softly smiled at Swanson. "You're an amazing surgeon and a great teacher, but one of these days, your lies will come back and bite you in the ass. I would hate to see your career disintegrate because you haven't been honest with your colleagues. You're too good to be self-sabotaging yourself."

Swanson took a deep breath and sighed. "You know, I honestly thought you would be the guppy who would drown first because you were so damn insecure. Even when I wasn't treating you fairly I could see how much you've grown since the beginning of your internship. You're not the same Kepner I met on your first day," she complimented, half-smiling at her intern. "And you have one hell of a right hook. I gotta respect that."

April awkwardly laughed. "I-I I'm sorry I punched you. I was out of line."

"No, I deserved it. I haven't been with a man for so long that I was becoming desperate," she guiltily replied. "Whatever. I'm probably overbearing to most of them anyway."

"Maybe if you weren't so stressed out all of the time, you wouldn't lash out as much and umm… be yourself," April recommended. "Arrogance is a turn off, especially when you're bragging about things you didn't actually do."

"Yes, I got the memo about the lying part," Swanson said through gritted teeth. "And uhh, I will consider your advice for the future. Is that all, Dr. Kepner?"

"One more question. Did you mean the good luck in the locker room?"

"No, I hate you all so much that I want you to fail," the blonde doctor sarcastically responded, then she laughed. "Get real. I am not a coldhearted person. Although, _you_ don't need good luck. You'll pass your exam. You didn't hear this from me, but the attendings placed bets on you scoring the highest."

April raised both of her eyebrows. She was unaware of the fact that the attendings thought so highly of her. "Because that doesn't make me feel a ton of pressure on my shoulders now," she quipped. "I hope they didn't bet a ton of money."

Swanson snickered as she turned around and walked away. "Don't worry about it, Kepner. You'll kick that test's ass."

They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either. April felt content with how her confrontation with Swanson worked out. A part of her felt relieved that her resident continued to believe she was the best intern, despite what happened between them months ago. And when she thought about it the older surgeon was just as insecure about herself as she was, but she wouldn't dare to pretend to be somebody she wasn't like Swanson had been doing.

She was thankful they reached some form of closure. And it was good to know that the blonde resident actually didn't hate her. One less issue to worry about.

Her mind switched back to the intern exam when her coworkers began filing out of the locker room. She found her group and followed them into a conference room with desks arranged in rows. It was like they were in high school again for SAT testing.

April sat down, front and center. Something about being in the front of the room made her comfortable, which was the opposite for Jackson. He found a seat in the last row in the back of the room making her slightly annoyed that he wasn't sitting beside her. "Jackson?"

He watched her wave at him from her seat and shook his head. "I'm comfortable here." Being in the front was equivalent to having a camera in his face. He always avoided the unwanted attention by sitting in the back. "How about you come over here?"

"No, I like the front."

"Well, I like the back," he countered.

"Do I smell trouble in Jackson and April Land?" Charles teased as he occupied the seat beside his roommate's. "Is this a momentous event? You two finally disagreeing on something?"

Jackson scoffed. "What are you talking about? We always disagree on things, but it's no big deal," he quickly dismissed. "So she likes sitting in the front. I'm not surprised. She was probably like that in high school and college. You and Reed are always disagreeing about crap, so April and I aren't any different."

"Seriously, I cannot wait for the day you two are hitched. Families clashing, you two having different ideas on how to decorate your own place…" Charles insinuated with a grin on his face. "You're probably gonna be laid back about the kids, while she's extremely overprotective-"

"Are you trying to say we'll drive each other nuts to the point we can't stand each other?" he asked curiously. "Because that's not going to happen."

"That's not what I meant. I just think it's gonna be entertaining watching you two bicker over what type of wallpaper you should put up for your first kid. You and April are characters out of a John Hughes film. The cute, nerdy girl wins the hunky jock," his roommate described. "Totally worthy of a Judd Nelson fist pump."

Jackson softly chuckled. "It wouldn't surprise me if you've already done that after hooking up with Reed. So, uhh… has she told you she loves you yet?" Charles shook his head in response. "Don't worry about it, man. She'll come around. She's probably still trying to get used to dating you after being friends for so long, but you two are doing well, right?"

"Yeah, we're good. A little awkward at times, nowhere near the power couple that is you and April," he jokingly answered.

"Power couple? We're just like any other couple."

"Uh huh," Charles skeptically replied, then he playfully elbowed his friend. "You're ready to marry her. Where are you hiding the ring, Avery?"

"There's no ring," he insisted. "I'm feeling enough pressure bringing her home to Boston in a few days. If they accept her, then I won't have anything to worry about. She hasn't acted disturbed by marriage talk, so I'm assuming that means she wants to marry me too."

"If I was into dudes, I'd marry you in a heartbeat." The burly intern laughed after Jackson lightly punched his shoulder. "Oh, stop pretending you don't know you're a hot commodity. Women would be throwing themselves at you left and right if you weren't with Kepner."

Jackson stared intently at April, whose back was facing him. "Doesn't matter. I _am_ with her, so I don't care about anyone else. Actually, I change my mind. I'm switching seats." He left his roommate alone, claiming the desk directly behind his girlfriend's. He leaned forward as his arms snaked over her shoulders. "Can I get a good luck kiss?"

April turned around in her seat and smiled. "You don't need it, but I'll kiss you anyway." She gently grabbed his face, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Did you move up?"

He nodded as he pulled out a pencil from his pocket. "I figured I'll feel better about this test if I'm sitting closer to you. You and my lucky pencil calm me down," he said, waving a chewed up pencil in front of his face. "Took this with my SATs and my MCAT."

"So, you and this lucky pencil… sounds pretty serious between you two," she teasingly speculated. "I think I'm beginning to feel a bit jealous. You've got a long history with Mr. Pencil. I'm not sure I can compete with that."

Jackson set his pencil down and took April's hand, kissing the back of it. "I promise there's nothing going on between us. After this test is over, I'm all yours again." He shared a laugh with her as the exam's proctor entered the room.

"Alright, everybody take your seats. We'll begin the exam shortly," the proctor announced.

"Well, here goes nothing," April sighed before she faced forward in her seat.

Jackson squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "See you on the other side."

* * *

"Those were two unbearable hours," Reed groaned as she and April entered Schmo's with Jackson, Charles and Trevor trailing behind. They decided to celebrate the end of their internship after their shifts. "But I'm pretty confident I did well."

"Me too. I breezed through that test," her roommate gloated. She had every right to brag considering she finished first, which wasn't a surprise to anybody. "I'm optimistic about my results."

Jackson wrapped his arm around April's shoulder. "As you should be," he agreed, kissing her temple as they walked towards the bar. "Whatever you want to drink tonight, it's on me. In three days, we'll have one week of freedom – sort of."

She slightly grimaced. "I think you should give me a crash course on each of your family members before I meet them," she suggested. "At least I would know what not to say to them."

"We'll have time for that on the plane. I'll even provide pictures for you, okay?" He waved his hand at the bartender. "Whiskey for me and a… what do you want, April?"

"Hmm…" April hummed while she leaned against the counter. "Sex on the beach."

Jackson softly groaned to himself. "I wish you meant literally."

He ordered their beverages, then he sat down on a stool. Pulling his girlfriend against his side, he found himself incredibly clingy with her. Maybe it was her tight black jeans that showcased her ass. He refused to let any other man stare at his woman when she was looking so attractive in a bar. The overprotective side of him used his forearm to cover her backside.

April giggled when she felt a light squeeze on her butt. "Hey, don't get fresh with me yet. Can't you wait until we're back at my apartment?" she playfully scolded him.

"Did I ever tell you the jeans you're wearing tonight are my favorite?"

"Are they?" she replied as she glanced down at her jeans. "You want to borrow them sometime?"

Jackson smirked at her. "You've been quite the smart ass today," he pointed out, then he picked up her drink from the counter and handed it to her. "Since when were you full of snarky comments?"

"It takes a while for them to come out," she answered before sipping her drink. "And since I'm talking to you I can be snarky whenever I want. Because you know, I love you and stuff."

"I approve of your smart ass side, by the way," he noted with a smile on his face.

The rest of their intern group joined them at the counter with their own drinks. Charles raised his glass of scotch in the middle of their small circle. "Although this is premature, we should toast anyway to passing our exams and taking one giant step forward to becoming kick ass surgeons."

Trevor nodded as he raised his beer bottle close to his roommate's. "I don't see why not."

The others followed suit before Charles toasted, "To the best intern group at Mercy West. We're going to run that hospital before our residency is over. Cheers!" They clanked their beverages together and sipped them as their celebration for surviving their intern year officially started.

"Well, well, well. The guppy squad is here," Swanson greeted them as she stood beside them at the counter. Her interns awkwardly returned the greeting before she ordered her own drink. "You all look like a bunch of interns who most likely passed their exams."

"Indeed, you are correct," Charles replied. "You gotta admit, we were the best intern group in our class."

Swanson chuckled. "And that makes me the best resident, yeah?" She held up her hand before any of them could answer. "You don't have to answer that. I'm pretty sure I'm interrupting your little party anyway."

April watched a band set up their instruments on the nearby stage. She realized one of the band members was Zach, which sparked an idea in her head. Standing beside Swanson, she grinned as she stared at Nurse Rock Star. "I've heard some rumblings in the hospital about Nurse Jacobs… about his possible interest in you," she implied. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but he watches you sometimes."

Her resident turned around after receiving her drink from the bartender. "Really?" She raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "Zach? He seems like a nice guy. Doesn't screw up the dosages I tell him to give my patients."

"He _is_ a nice guy. Quite the gentleman," she assured the blonde. "And he's a musician. Plays the guitar and the drums. Oh, and he sings too. Zach's so multitalented. How often do you find a Nurse Rock Star like him? You should talk to him. Remember to be yourself."

"I think I will. Thanks for the heads up, Kepner."

Jackson watched in amusement as Swanson approached the stage and greeted Zach. He eyed April curiously when she returned by his side. "Why'd you do that?"

"I thought they would look cute together," she replied with a shrug. "And Swanson and I reached somewhat of an understanding with each other this morning. I just wanted to do something nice."

Reed laughed to herself. "Geez, first Jackson breaks his ass, then you try to hook him up with Swanson. What did the poor guy do to deserve that punishment?" she quipped.

April rolled her eyes. "You never know. They might actually hit it off like you and Charles did." She gestured her hand towards the stage where Zach and Swanson were engaged in a friendly conversation. "See? They're getting along just fine."

An Asian man approached Trevor with a beer in his hand. "Hey, man. Thanks for the beer. You're Trevor Stanley, correct?" he inquired. The intern slowly nodded, visibly confused by the man's advances. "I uhh… I'm Steven Nakazawa. I'm a first year resident at Mercy West."

"Oh, right. I think I've seen you around the hospital," Trevor responded, shaking the man's hand. "Anyway, about that beer-"

"He's very grateful that you accepted the beer he bought for you," Reed intervened, slyly grinning at her friend. "Aren't you, Trev?"

He nervously laughed after she winked at him. "O-oh, yeah. Umm…" Running his fingers through his spiky brown hair, he was at a loss for words. Reed set him up with another man and he had no idea how to deal with it. Dating was not on his list of expertise.

Steven pointed at an empty billiards table. "You wanna play some pool?"

Reed nudged Trevor from behind, forcing him to take a step closer to his unexpected date. "He would love to," she answered for her speechless friend. "Have fun, you two."

April observed the two men with a slightly open mouth. "I had no idea Dr. Nakazawa was gay," she said after they walked away from their group. She looked at her roommate, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Okay, so you're allowed to be proud about hooking Trevor up, but I can't feel the same away about Swanson?"

"Trevor's our friend who needs some lovin'. Swanson's… Swanson."

"Ah, don't feel bad. Thanks to you, I probably don't have to worry about Swanson trying to flirt with me nor do I need to worry about Zach pining after you," Jackson assured April, resting his chin against her shoulder.

The redhead gently patted his cheek. "Even if he was, you know better than to think I would consider leaving you for him. Zach and I were a long time ago." She ran her fingertips along the back of Jackson's head. "It's just you and me now."

He smiled and placed a kiss on her neck. Thinking back to Charles' jokes about their possible marriage life, he could live with the bickering, their families clashing and disagreements over how to raise their first born child.

He wanted to experience every obstacle and precious moment with her.

* * *

The following morning, the interns reported to their locker room for the results of their exams. Every year, there were a handful of unlucky doctors who either dropped out of the program or opted to repeat their internship elsewhere. Inside of their lockers were envelopes containing a piece of paper telling them if they passed or not. After the confidence they all had at Schmo's the previous night, their calmness was replaced by nervousness.

Charles opened his locker first. An envelope rested on top of the pile of mess inside, but he refused to check his test score until the rest of his group had their own results. "Hurry up, guys. Quit being wussies and open your lockers," he impatiently demanded.

Jackson was next, followed by Reed and Trevor. April remained seated on the bench in front of her own locker. She was afraid of the possibility of being overconfident only to find out she failed her intern exam all along. All of her hard work and studying could have easily been done for nothing.

"April, we're waiting for you," her boyfriend calmly said. "Do you want me to open your locker for you?"

"No, I can do it." She took a deep breath before she stood up and opened her locker. Grabbing the envelope inside, she turned around to face her coworkers. "So, should we open this at the same time?"

Reed nodded. "On three, everybody," she instructed. "One… two… three."

All five of them ripped open their envelopes together. Jackson raised his arms over his head as he checked his result. "I passed!" he excitedly announced.

"Me too, me too!" Reed rejoiced. "No more intern status for me."

"Just like I expected. I passed, of course," Charles boasted, slapping his palm against Jackson's before he looked at Trevor. "What about you, dude?"

Trevor let out a sigh of relief. "I'm good. I passed."

April squealed and fanned herself with the paper in her hand. "And I passed!" she chirped. "We're all safe, guys!"

They embraced each other in a group hug, bouncing up and down as they celebrated their successful exam fates. No longer interns, they could officially call themselves residents. While they would likely continue to deal with bossy residents from the upper classes, it was their turn to dump scut on the newest batch of interns.

After a short vacation, they would be returning to Mercy West as first year residents.

* * *

Jackson couldn't stop his leg from jittering in his seat on the plane. It was his first time going home to Boston since he moved to Seattle and while he would only be spending a week there, the trip was important to him. April would be meeting most of his family for the first time. It was a make or break situation for him. He knew how much she wanted to feel accepted by the great Harper Avery, but he couldn't force his grandfather to like her. However, regardless of what he thought could happen in Boston, he was going to support her through thick and thin. Even his very opinionated family couldn't scare her away easily in his mind.

Like the pretty boy promised, he provided April with general information about his grandfather and sisters that she should know beforehand. He also told her about his favorite cousins, aunts and uncles who lived in the area. She took notes in her red notebook, while he spoke about certain events and memories that occurred during his childhood. Making a great first impression was her priority. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of his famous grandfather.

"Jackson, stop. You're shaking my seat," she softly giggled and placed her hand against Jackson's knee. "You seem more nervous than I am. What's the problem?"

"I… I really want them to like you, that's all," he murmured, turning his head to look at April. "Besides the whole name thing with my grandfather, I can't see how you won't be accepted by my family. You're freaking perfect compared to my past girlfriends."

April smirked at him. "Well, if you're so confident about them liking me, then there's nothing to be nervous about. I should be the one jittering my leg and turning pale as we inch closer to Boston," she insisted, then she kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "Maybe you should drink some water."

"It's fine. I'm alright."

"Okay," she said before standing up. "I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

Jackson couldn't help but smile as April's rear end brushed against his knees while she squeezed her way out of their row. He watched her walk towards the back of the airplane and step inside of a vacant restroom stall. After he faced forward, he reached inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and stared at the diamond ring inside.

Having bought it the same day they learned they passed their intern exams, he couldn't tell April that his nerves were due to the engagement ring he was hiding from her. He already had an ideal plan in his head for how he would pop the big question.

Boston Red Sox game. He purchased seats on the Green Monster where it wasn't too crowded to drop down on one knee. And he also requested the proposal to happen on the jumbo screen for everybody to see. He wanted his hometown to see the beautiful woman he wanted to marry. But his nerves were also partly due to possible rejection. He hoped she wouldn't humiliate him by giving him the wrong answer to his big question. Only time would tell.

He slipped the box back inside of his jacket pocket seconds before April returned to her seat. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Wake me up when we're about to land, please," she softly said.

"Will do," he answered, interlocking their fingers together.

Jackson briefly glanced back at his sleeping girlfriend. Making the move to Seattle was the best decision of his life. He never really believed in soulmates, but he was certain he found his on the day he started his internship at Mercy West.

During his botched valedictorian speech at his high school graduation, he stole a quote from Semisonic's "Closing Time", but he hadn't actually delivered that part because he was busy spewing chunks on stage. However, he truly believed in the quote, especially now.

_Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end._

* * *

**As you can tell, I left this open for a possible sequel in the future. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter or the fic in general :)**

**I will be back soon with a new Japril fic that I've started writing, so keep your eyes out for it. ****You can also check my tumblr for updates as well. ****Thanks again for reading!**


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